College Admissions Essay: My Passion For Water

My passion for water has existed since I began competitively swimming ten years ago. Oceans, lakes, pools, and even rain make me feel at home. I spent my entire summer around water. Between swim practices, swim meets, trips to the lake, and working at a summer camp, I was always in the water. Swimming became the one thing I always looked forward to. I attended school in a different area than where I lived, but I made many local friends through swimming. At the end of eighth grade, I was eager to see what I could achieve in high school swimming. I had dreams of qualifying for districts and even the state competition. Most importantly, I wanted to walk across the pool deck for the senior walk at summer championships with my parents at my side,
Instead, my disability will fuel my drive to practice architecture as a career. In college, I will work towards becoming an architect, where I will make accessibility the highest priority in what I design, assuring those with disabilities that they will not have the fear that I once had about navigating daily life. When the architect designing structures understands the struggles of having a disability, the attention to detail only increases. No disability should ever keep someone, including myself, from experiencing what they love. For this reason, I plan to move to the East Coast, to design beachfront houses - along with entire communities - to be accessible. I want other people to experience the same love I have for the water without any obstacles. Even though I am not physically able to swim competitively, I could still participate in my school’s golf team. My performace was significantly affected, but I still chose to remain on the team. When I was new to the sport, I received encouragement from the upperclassmen, and I wanted to repay this kindness by giving encouragement to the underclassmen. I was unsure of my decision, but after finishing my senior season, I knew I made the right choice. I earned a varsity letter, which is an accomplishment that always reminds me of how much I can achieve if I maintain a positive attitude towards my
For others, chairs may not be important objects in life, but they represent struggling for me. Standing up from a seated position without support is a challenge that I struggle with daily. The invisiblity of my disability makes it just as mentally and emotionally challenging as physically challenging. I see all my friends stand up with ease and I want nothing more than to be as able as they are. Every day, I am dominated by fear: fear of falling, fear of chairs, and fear of embarassment. School only amplifies this fear, but I never consider skipping a day of school. Education is an opportunity that I should not take for granted. I never fully appreciated my chance to swim competitively, but I will not do the same for education. For this reason, I have the rare appreciation of my education that my classmates do not seem to have. I know that having to stuggle to stand up is worth the opportunity I have been given, so I learned how to stand up using support from objects and people willing to help. I didn’t overcome this challenge; I learned how to live with