Sometimes in life, moving on is easy. The gap between high school and college is an extraordinarily intimidating one, I’ll admit, but after four long years at Millard South, I’m more than ready to put high school behind me and jump into the world of higher education. Above all, high school for me (and for many) was an extremely important formative experience, and I spent a lot of time finding out just who I am and what I wanted to be. Even having hit a few snags on that second point, I readily welcome the challenge of my future, and have a seemingly infinite number of prospects before me – from journalism, to competitive shooting, to independent writing.
The end of high school also marks the end of my competitive swimming career, which I’m happy to say I’m leaving in stride. I’d about reached my peak with the level of commitment I was willing to give, and I ended my career on a better high note than I could have possibly asked for. At least for now, I’m perfectly satisfied with leaving swimming where it lies; that being said, even though leaving swimming behind was a relatively easy decision to make, there’s no reason to not have heartfelt feelings about what is essentially one chapter of my life coming to a close. Swimming meant a lot to me, and in large part shaped me into the man that I am today – physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
No matter who you are or what you do, moving on is always complicated. That being said, it’s an extremely important part of life. You don’t stick with everything you’ve ever done; you live your life in phases and stages, and sometimes you just have to switch up. Moving on can be as easy as turning a page and counting to ten, or it can be the most gut-wrenchingly, teeth-grindingly arduous and difficult process that you’ve ever faced in your time on this earth. No matter what you’re going through or how long it might take to do it, you can get through it. Never be ashamed of having to move on, and most certainly never be ashamed of feeling like you don’t have to, or you can’t. We don’t always have to come to terms with it, but maybe the very act of moving on is worth celebrating.
