It’s 5:30 am and my alarm clock may as well be mack truck running over my brain. As I hurl my alarm across the room (the alarm being my cellphone), I think to myself….
“I so wish I was still in college…I would totally sleep through my 8 am class….”
……..and my brain wanders back into a happy place between ZZZs, that alarm, and being 22 again….for 25 minutes. Leaving me in a heart-stopping-panic feeling of never-mind-breakfast-get-on-the-road situation. Ugh. I hate being a grown-up!
Sound familiar?
I Learned a lot of lessons before I went to College….
My Mother taught me:
- How to be responsible.
- That I could not blame things on my twin sister
- (I tried, believe me…but it never worked).
- To Always commit 100% and follow through until the end.
- Doing anything 1/2 way is just lazy
- That time-management skills are important!
- That a mid-day nap can prevent insanity
My swim coach taught me:
- That late was never an option.
- If you were late, you didn’t swim. Literally. In the mornings He would lock the doors to YMCA because of safety reasons.
- That simply showing up wasn’t enough.
- Drifting through a practice was a waste of time and it was not tolerated.
- “Swimming fast is easy, Folks! Do the work. Get the job done!”
…….And then I went away to College!……
Where I learned:
- Sleeping through class is fine – just make it up later.
- When in doubt, a doctors note will work.
- Procrastination is the only way to really write papers.
- In classes like P.Chem, D is for Diploma!
- Showing up to class is enough to get a passing grade.
- You can cover-up a poorly completed assignment with fancy language!
- As long as you “try,” you’ve worked hard enough.
What is that classic phrase? ”Just give it the good-’ole college try!”?
Ever notice that when you “try” to do something…. it usually never gets done?
To be clear, I am not against higher education. I hold an undergraduate degree and two graduate degrees. However, not all of life’s important lessons take place in a classroom. I never received an “A+” after completing a workout set, but I love that sense of accomplishment! I never “flunked” a test on taking a nap, but I think my mom was onto something with that who sanity thing…
I learned the most important life lessons from my Mom and my Swim Coach. What about you?
Keep on Swimming,
Coach Meg
wishing luck to my swimmers at Y States and 12&U Silver/Bronze!
