My breaths were ragged, my heart beating out of my chest, as my mom dragged me with  all of her strength.  At the time I was only four, but was very determined not to go anywhere near that bottomless pit.  My nails, bit down to the beds, dug into the dirty white tiled walls as I begged her not to make me go.  My complaints were no match against her “mom stare”. I feared that the dreaded counting down from five would begin soon, so I pushed open the heavy metal door and walked in.  A pungent smell of chlorine burned my nose, and made my eyes water, but I continued in.  Looking around the enormous room, my apprehension grew.  The cool air sent spine curling shivers down my back as my mother pushed me towards the group of kids standing around an adult. 

  “Ok class, now that everyone is here, let’s start our swim lesson.”

  The swim instructor motioned for all of us to come to the edge of the pool and sit with our feet dangling in the water.  My finger traced over the gaps between the black and white tiles as the chilling water splashed up and out of the pool.

  “Today we are going to practice diving, but first we will just practice jumping in feet first.”

  The smile plastered on her face was a false friend. I knew what awaited me was my worst fear: going underwater.  Diving into water seemed pointless.  Why would I want to have my eyes burn bright red from the excessive amount of chlorine that was put in the pool, or have the irritated feeling of water in my ears? 

  All of the kids were eager to jump in, so they pushed and shoved to get closer to the front of the line.  I carefully positioned myself far enough away that I could have been mistaken as someone just watching.  I held my breath as the first girl jumped off the ledge.  Her feet pierced through the glassy surface, as she disappeared in a splash of water.  After a few seconds, her head bobbed up to the surface, and I finally exhaled.  One by one, more and more kids jumped off the ledge into the unknown until it was just me standing on the outside. 

  “It’s okay sweetie, just jump. I promise I will catch you!”

My legs trembled as I walked to the edge of the pool.  I looked down to the bottom of the seemingly endless chasm and my nerves intensified.  I could have tried to run, but I know someone would have caught me.  I glanced at my mom for encouragement. She smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up that told me ‘Go for it.’  I closed my eyes trying to find the peacefulness of a warm bed on a snow day, but it wouldn’t come. I could be sitting on the couch watching pokemon on tv with my brothers, but instead I’m about to plunge, feet first into an endless, watery abyss.  Why didn’t I just pretend to be sick today?

  “Just count to three and then jump.”

  One. I don’t want to do this. Two. I really don’t want to do this. Three! I REALLY don’t want to do this, but here we go. 

  My feet left the solid ground as I held my nose, ready for the impact.  I hit the water with a smack and sank below the surface.  I kicked my feet rapidly, as I desperately attempted to move towards the surface.  Suddenly, I was being pulled up by hands grabbing me under my arms.  I inhaled deeply as soon as my head was above water. 

  “You did it! Did you have fun?”

  I rubbed my red burning eyes, and looked at her.

  “YES!