...I started swimming class begrudgingly. I was excited to swim and improve my technique, but I wasn’t pleased about the hassle it would be to swim twice a week and go to other classes with wet hair. However, in Ms. Meissner’s swimming course I learned more than I ever thought I would about myself, my capabilities, and the stereotypes of black people and swimming. As a child I never really thought about swimming as something that I couldn't do. My parents put me in lessons pretty young, and I was never a great swimmer, but I had a little bit of an understanding of what swimming was. I felt that I could probably survive if I was in danger. I did hear talk about black women. I heard that black women weren’t the greatest swimmers because we were...
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...share a significant event I've had in my childhood. The event I would like to share is when I was in the fifth grade. This event in my life became very world-shattering when I was eighteen years old in Navy boot camp. When I was in the fifth grade I have had the most undesirable opportunity of seeing a little boy drown in our city pool. Actually, I was taught how to swim when I was in the third grade. After that fifth grade summer, I was afraid of the deep end of the pool. Seeing the little boy drown at the age of ten did not give me the desire to swim in any depth pass my waist line. As stated in the textbook Introduction to Psychology, “Cognitive behavior focuses on the processes such as memory, thought or reasoning” (Page 10). As I stood on the diving platform at the pool in Navy boot camp, my mind went back eight years to where I saw the little boy drown in the city pool. Deep inside my mind I knew I was trained well and I knew without a doubt that the instructors were highly trained in not letting me drown in that pool. However, I was still in fear that I would drown like the little boy did eight years ago in the city pool. I approached this situation with what psychology calls cognitive perspective. The memory of the kid drowning in the pool had my focused on only one thing, I may drown rather then I can swim and I will make it. How did I forget how to swim? I don't think I forgot how to swim, I think I developed a fear of swimming in deep water. Writer Saul Mcloud...
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...Learning to Swim Can Be Scary “Learning something new can be a scary experience. One of the hardest things I've ever had to do was learn how to swim. I was always afraid of the water, but I decided that swimming was an important skill that I should learn, .I also thought it would be good exercise and help me to become physically stronger. What I didn't realize was that learning to swim would also make me a more confident person. New situations always make me a bit nervous, and my first swimming lesson was no exception. After I changed into my bathing suit in the locker room, I stood timidly by the side of the pool waiting for the teacher and other students to show up. After a couple of minutes the teacher came over. She smiled and introduced herself, and two more students joined us. Although they were both older than me, they didn't seem to be embarrassed about not knowing how to swim. I began to feel more at ease.” Learning to swim made my summers more enjoyable by making my time in the water safer. As a teen that didn’t know how to swim I was terrified by the thoughts of drowning, afraid to look weak or ashamed for not knowing how to swim. Learning how to swim increase my self-confidence and eliminated my fears of drowning. I had to overcome the fear of the water that was a huge step for me. Before deciding to take swimming lesson, I would spend many days on the side of the pool also walking in the shallow end. My instructor started my first...
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...1 Have you ever almost drowned? I have and I’d like to describe the event. Some people may get a little chuckle to a large belly laugh because now that I am safe, I look back and part of it is really funny. Most of it gave me the scare of my life. Anybody who has had a loved one, acquaintance or even themselves almost drowned can relate to the fact that things can go from having fun to a life threatening situation in a matter of seconds. Hopefully, my memory of this event will enlighten someone enough to be a little bit more vigilant when around water. My memory of this event begins at Lake Wakonda near Beloit in north central Kansas. We had just finished a day of boating and the boat was parked at the shore where we had made camp. My dad, brother and sister were on shore huddled around the camp fire. Although, I believe my brother was huddling around the fire because he had crashed and burned so much when he was trying to water ski. I think I was about five to seven years old so I can’t remember certain things but I think I had some aunts and uncles there as well. I, however, could never get enough of playing in the water so I was out on a raft in the water. I didn’t think I was out too far because it looked like I was only about five feet passed the boat. As it always is with being that young, looks were a little deceiving and I was either out farther then I thought or there was a wicked drop off under the water. As it is with most lakes, I couldn’t see the bottom and was...
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...Nathan Learning Theories Approaches Teresa Zappey American Intercontinental University Abstract Three learning theories are examined, Behaviorist, Cognitivist and Constructionist and put into theoretical application in regards to a hypothetical gymnast named Nathan in the story titled “Nathan the Gymnast”. There is a brief overview of the story included then first the behaviorist theory is applied on how it can help Nathan using positive and negative reinforcement. Next the cognitivist theory is applied on how Nathan can be helped with its emphasis on the mental process and problem solving. Finally the constructionist theory is applied with how it can help Nathan using the active process of learning including using outside sources. It also taps into Nathans desire to do well and love of gymnastics or personal motivation. Personal examples are given on each theory by the author. Nathan Learning Theories Approaches There are three well know learning theories, behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism all of which provide valuable methods of teaching students. Each of these theories will be hypothetically applied to a story called, “Nathan the Gymnast”. A brief summary of the story is Nathan has natural gymnastic talent from a very young age. He was inspired to be a gymnast when he watched the Olympics so his parents enrolled him in gymnastic classes and soon the coach saw his talent and wanted to take him to competitions, which Nathan wanted to do, and his parents...
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...Water suppose to be something’ funny’ for 13 years old girl. You can play games, swim or even lie down on water when you get tired. If you are 13 years old and go somewhere near the coast at beautiful summer day, you want to wake up early in the morning to go to the beach. Mom yells at you to stay at inshore, but you do not listen her because you try to swim in deep water a million times. You know that water cannot do anything to you, it is your playmate. At noon on that beautiful summer day, I realized water is not my playmate anymore. The first time in my life I got that how warm the sun was between noon -1pm. Mom was cooking one of my favorite cookies and I could smell their crunchy, yummy smells. This desire was very powerful that kept me swimming between noon and 1pm. However, I forgot that everybody do not like cookies as much as I do and might try something ‘funny’ at the coast. But how water could be funny for 45 years old men who cannot swim? After I done with my lovely cookies, crunchy smell is disappeared and I got that salty smell and heard yelling comes from the sea. It was my 45 years old dad who cannot swim! There were 10 meter between house and the coast, but I run like 100 miles. One scene was repeating itself : my dad was plunging into water over and over again. “Save him!” my mom was shouting, but there were nobody else than me and my brother. “who, me?” I answered her in a worry. She was the one who told me stay away from deep water, now...
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...mantel. Every day, as I walk into my living room, the award mockingly congratulates me as I smile. Ironically, the blue seventh place ribbon resembles the first place ribbon in color; so, if I just cover up the tip of the seven, I may convince myself that I championed the fourth heat. But, I never dare to wipe away the memory of my seventh place swim; I need that daily reminder of my imperfection. I need that seventh place. Two years ago, I joined the no-cut swim team. That winter, my coach unexpectedly assigned me to swim the 500 freestyle. After stressing for hours about swimming 20 laps in a competition, I mounted the blocks, took my mark, and swam. Around lap 14, I looked around at the other lanes and did not see anyone. “I must be winning!” I thought to myself. However, as I finally completed my race and lifted my arms up in victory to the eager applause of the fans, I looked up at the score board. I had finished my race in last place. In fact, I left the pool two minutes after the second-to-last competitor, who now stood with her friends, wearing all her clothes. The blue for the first loser went to me. However, as I walked back to my team, carrying the seventh place blue, listening to the splash of the new event’s swimmers, I could not help but smile. I could smile because despite my loss, life continued; the next event began. I realized that I could accept this failure, because I should not take everything in life so seriously. Why should I not laugh at the image...
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...many journeys with her family and with herself. It addresses the many social issues such as: neglect, sexual abuse, homelessness, unsanitary conditions, and alcohol abuse. In this memoir we are able to see a glimpse of how Rex and Rosemary Walls choose to educate their children to see the better side of their daily hardships. To show that no matter what nature throws at us we can handle it. Rex and Rosemary Walls may not have been the best parents however they were able to turn their children into well-educated adults. They were able to accomplish this by ensuring them that they loved them and would never fail them. Also by finding creative ways to teach them important life lessons. Like to learn how to face your fears and what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger. Although many people would not necessarily agree with the manner these parents educated their children we can certainly accept the fact that most of the children gained exceptional values that otherwise may have not been learned. The positive effects of the Walls parents parenting skills were; their children learned important values, they learned what it means to stand by each other, and they gained the importance of having something to inspire them to a great future. The Walls children learned important values like humility, loyalty, forgiveness, and appreciation. These young children had to endure many hardships to learn the true meaning of being a family. They had to endure the poverty they lived in and the...
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...to walk, and having to learn how to walk. Many solides lose their limbs coming back from serving out country, or people that were in a bad accident many say they would not be able to walk again. They all have to go through physical therapy to be able to learn how to walk again. Doodle was born with a birth defect making him not being able to walk. His brother pushed him how to walk, it was kind of like his physical therapy. They had a goal for Doodle to walk really good and being able to start school. But their goal pushed Doodle to far and Doodle passed away. Brother was the main cause of Doodle's death because Brother was pushing Doodle really hard to get to walk more and to swimming by the end of summer....
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...writer and philosopher Joseph Campbell wrote about the stages each hero goes through in their journey in a book called, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. In Finding Nemo, there is tragedy before there is hope. There is also comedy, adventure and suspense to keep the viewer on their feet. Marlin, a clown fish father and the hero, embarks on a journey to find his son, Nemo. Marlin’s wife dies protecting Nemo and his siblings when they are still eggs and are being attacked by an eel who is trying to eat them. After the attack, Nemo is the only egg left. Nemo survives, but is injured, which leaves him with a gimp fin. This leaves the excited and adventurous Marlin a very scared and timid clownfish. When Nemo is captured by a scuba diver, Marlin must swim from the Great Barrier Reef to Sydney, Australia to save him. Marlin will find the hero within himself and act fast to save Nemo while also allowing him to learn and grow without sheltering him too much. The hero’s ordinary world consists of Marlin and his son Nemo, confined to the safety and protection of the ocean by their sea anemone. Although this may seem uncommon, in real life, this is a very common relationship between clownfish and anemone. Without the anemone, clownfish usually become prey to bigger predator fish. While Marlin may not realize it at the time, because he thinks he is doing the right thing, he is actually making his son, Nemo, very cautious, scared, and afraid of the ocean. Our hero is not only a product of his past...
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...my mantel. Every day, as I walk into my living room, the award mockingly congratulates me as I smile. Ironically, the blue seventh place ribbon resembles the first place ribbon in color; so, if I just cover up the tip of the seven, I may convince myself that I championed the fourth heat. But, I never dare to wipe away the memory of my seventh place swim; I need that daily reminder of my imperfection. I need that seventh place. Two years ago, I joined the no-cut swim team. That winter, my coach unexpectedly assigned me to swim the 500 freestyle. After stressing for hours about swimming 20 laps in a competition, I mounted the blocks, took my mark, and swam. Around lap 14, I looked around at the other lanes and did not see anyone. “I must be winning!” I thought to myself. However, as I finally completed my race and lifted my arms up in victory to the eager applause of the fans, I looked up at the score board. I had finished my race in last place. In fact, I left the pool two minutes after the second-to-last competitor, who now stood with her friends, wearing all her clothes. The blue for the first loser went to me. However, as I walked back to my team, carrying the seventh place blue, listening to the splash of the new event’s swimmers, I could not help but smile. I could smile because despite my loss, life continued; the next event began. I realized that I could accept this failure, because I should not take everything in life so seriously. Why should I not laugh at the image of...
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...My parents arrived in America with nothing but a dream. Growing up in poverty in the Philippines, my parents worried about paying the rent in order to have a roof over their head, where their next meal would come from, and working a full-time job in order to pay for their education. Regardless of those obstacles and financial struggles, both my parents were able to complete their education, move to America, and fulfill the American Dream every Filipino dreamt of. Because of my mother and father, I didn’t have to worry about having clothes on my body, my next meal, or having a house to shelter in. Because of their experiences of growing up in a developing country, my parents raised me to value my education and the opportunities I am given since...
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...Like all swimmers I have felt the same way. It all started about seven years ago when I first joined the swim team I was so nervous to step up on the block and race. My mom guided me through the simple process. The official said into the mic “Take your mark”. At this time we all got into our starting position and as the ear piercing beep rang through the air we dove into the chilling water. I raced to get to the wall and back earning first place and getting a small ribbon as...
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...beat to death was a very hard decision and also the most scariest. After he picked the game, there were a few thing that helped him survive. One is that he did the Malay Mancatcher, that he learned in Malacca. The Burmese tiger pit gave him more chance of surviving the game. The last but not least is the way he could swim long distances. The Malay Mancatcher gave him more time to think about what he was going to do with General Zaroff. The Malay Mancatcher was one of the ideas that gave him more chance of surviving in Ship-Trap Island. “Rainsford,” called the general, “ if you are within sound of my voice, as I suppose you are, let me congratulate you. Not many men know how to make a Malay mancatcher. Luckily for me I, too, have hunted in Malacca. You are proving interesting, Mr. Rainsford. I am going to have my wound dressed; it only a slight one. But I shall be back. I shall be back.” (Connell 26). This gives Rainsford more time to think about a way to get out of the island. He is also showing that he is capable of winning the game and that he is a good competition. As well as the Malay mancatcher, the Burmese tiger pit helped Rainsford win the game....
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...In Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy Pilgrim’s most traumatic experiences all came from his childhood. Even though Billy endured the devastating traumas of war, his traumatizing experience still came from his childhood, caused by his father. All that was noted about Billy’s father was that he was a barber, he died in an hunting accident while Billy was in the army. The the most predominant experience Billy had with his father was when he decided to teach Billy how to swim. He did this by using the swim or sink method, “His father was going to throw Billy into the deep end, and Billy was going to damn well swim” (Vonnegut 43). This traumatized Billy as it nearly killed him. Billy fell unconscious and almost drowned before he was saved. He describes...
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