The road to the gym

Second year at Central Missouri, I started to work out. I don’t know why I decided to start then and how I got so hooked with working out. Probably one reason was because I was so bored. First year, I did not know many people. I worked a part-time job but didn’t work many hours. I spent most of my free time online connecting with my friends back home using a neighbor’s unsecured wifi. The signal wasn’t very good so I couldn’t do much of voice chatting or webcam. I spent most of the time waiting for websites to load and disconnect/reconnect. You can’t imagine how bored I was during holidays and the first summer. Then I found a gym on campus that was convenient for me to go to class, work, and home. And I started to work gym time into my schedule. I first only used the treadmill, then weightlifting machines. I learned from seeing people using those machines. Some of them I liked; some I didn’t. Overall, I enjoyed working out very much.
I did not grow up playing any sports. The only active thing I and my friends did was riding a bicycle to school. I rode for four years then went to another school to which I walked in five minutes. So working out was a whole new thing to me and I kept pushing myself to do different things at the gym. I loved it when my body was sore because I know whatever I did was taking effect. I was happy to shred some pounds and got in better shape. I loved to explore my abilities that I had never thought of before. That was why I really got into working out.

… And to the pool

Third summer, also last summer in Warrensburg, I took a swim class for adults at the local community center. That was an adventure that I know could save my life someday. Before then, I knew how to swim, kinda. I could survive in the water for about 30 seconds at most. So at this swim class, I learned different swimming styles and most importantly how to tread water. Treading water was the survival skill that helped me overcome the fear of being drown. Even though that fear still comes to me once in a while, I was much more comfortable in the water then than I had been before. After that class was over, Jane, the swim teacher offered me private lessons for free. She worked for the University so it was not much a trouble for her. She taught a couple of kids so I came after she had finished with them. She was a very nice woman and a great teacher. She kept me work hard to perfect my strokes. I always think of her when I get into the water. Thanks to her, I am now able to swim from this end of the pool and back. I rest here and there but I do get a good workout and I can survive in the water for a while in case of emergency.
I always wish I had seriously learned how to swim earlier, say when I was a child. I would be much better swimmer now. But who knows, my parents might have lost me for a lake or a pool long time ago. Well, we’ll never know.