Feb 18 2016 by Alison Mai

I was one of those typical kids who tried everything growing up - gymnastics, soccer, dance, piano, violin, everything. But one thing stuck with me growing up - swimming. I was the third child with both of my older siblings being swimmers as well, so I guess you could say it was in my blood. By the time I was born, my brother was almost 10 years old and winning States, so you could also say I had a high bar to reach.

I was quite the stellar swimmer as a kid, as my parents and coaches said. But when I moved to France, my whole mentality about swimming changed along with all other aspects of my life. Suddenly, I wasn't living and breathing the sport. I became much more involved with myself (self-discovery and all, ya feel) as well as my new city and friends. So when the time came to apply to colleges, swimming wasn't really on my mind until my college counselor suggested it. "It can't hurt", she said. And boy, was she right.

Being overseas, the recruiting process was a bit different but I still paid visits to potential schools and communicated with coaches from universities all over the U.S. Once I thought about doing it, there was no turning back; I wanted to live and breathe the sport again, to feel the adrenaline rush through my veins and the satisfaction of out-touching someone by .01 (or even, the disappointment in losing by that much).

I accepted my offer to Emory and I say this to myself every day, "Emory and the swim team are the greatest and smartest decisions I've ever made." I don't say that because Emory's women's varsity swim team is currently on a 6-year streak of NCAA Championships (although that definitely helps), but because the team environment has helped me so much, through thick and thin. My coaches are my most trustworthy mentors, my team captains became some of my most valuable friends, and my team has supported me in any endeavor. Even though swimming may seem like an individual sport, we've all come to the conclusion that this is a team effort: we do what we do because it's for the good of the team. That mentality was something that I had completely forgotten about, that had escaped my mind in my path to self-discovery during my time in France.

Freshman year can be intimidating, and I know that I was overwhelmed going into a whole new environment meeting 100 new people every day for the first few weeks. Swimming allowed me to have an automatic group of friends from the second that I stepped foot on campus; like a family, we all love each other and support one another unconditionally. This team has unwavering loyalty to each other, something that I found is scarce among a sea of backstabbers. Not only has this team been my family and helped me feel included in a crowd of new people, but they've also been an incredible positive influence on me, both socially and academically. I didn't have as many awkward encounters as a freshman, as my friend group was almost chosen for me. With my team, I know that I can fall back to them no matter what happens to me.

I didn't bounce between friend groups at the beginning of freshman year like so many of my friends off the team did. I didn't wander awkwardly in the dining hall searching, hoping for a familiar face. I was thrown into a family, a group of people who understood me not only as an athlete but as a student. Training 20+ hours week with the same group of 70 people can be exhausting (physically and socially), sure, but I wouldn't trade my team for anything in the world. And while I'll say that my two closest friends are off of the team (because, like a family, we all need our time away form each other), my team always has my back: unconditionally. They're the people you fight for, live for, die for, and my freshman year would be so different without their steady support.

Lead Image Credit: Alison Mai



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