Buoyancy by Elizabeth

Buoyancy by Elizabeth - February 2014 Scholarship Essay

I have always loved keeping inspirational quotes, as they filled my house growing up. They can be found in the margins of my notebooks and on walls in my room, but there is one specific quote that has helped shape me into the person I am today. It simply states, “her favorite thing about water was buoyancy; she didn’t have to sink if she didn’t want to.” I came across it during my junior year in high school, and immediately felt drawn to it. As a diver on my school’s swim and dive team, I have always had some sort of connection to water, yet as a teenage girl trying to figure out how to deal with deep emotions, I did not quite know what that connection was. That is, until I found this quote.

To me the strength of water is an amazing thing. Our bodies, heavy as they may be, can stay above the surface of water with simply air in our lungs. I never realized that water would be such an incredible impact in my life outside of the pool, but it has been. The end of my junior year and start of my summer year were both hard on me mentally and emotionally, and I was diagnosed with chronic depression. I’d had bad days before, but this was something new to me. Each day seemed harder than the one before, and the only thing to which I looked forward was crawling in bed at the end of the night.

My grades suffered. As did my friendships, diving, my relationships with my parents, and my sleeping and eating habits. There were days that I wondered whether or not it was worth it anymore. Why fight through one bad day just to wake up in another? I wanted to give up, but something kept me holding on: the water. Rainy days made me feel like it was possible for each cold drop that sent a shock through my body to wash my problems away. I spent countless hours in the shower, crying, but letting the hot water soothe and calm me. And when it came to my time in the pool, all I had to do was float to remind myself how strong I could be.

I didn’t have to sink if I didn’t want to. I had the opportunity to make a choice. I had the control over my body and my mentality. I chose to get help instead of sink deeper into my negative lifestyle. I wanted to learn how to float again. I got further help for my problems. My family and friends supported me in my journey like my first swim instructor did as she kept her arms under my back while I tried to float for the first time. That little girl inside of me first learning of her love for the water was back even stronger. I can now not even imagine life without diving or without having the pool as a place to go on my bad days. It has given me more strength than I could have ever expected.

No quote has ever affected me in such a way as this one. Without knowing this quote, not many people will understand why I love to float on my back, why I love the rain, or why even the thought of the ocean relaxes me. It’s like a Taylor Swift song that every girl thinks is written about her. This quote spoke to me with such intensity and such accuracy that it affected my life completely. My favorite thing about water is buoyancy. Because it taught me that I don’t have to sink. And I don’t want to.