H20kie Winter Championships

On December 14, 15, and 16, I competed in the first big championship swim meet of the season, the H20kie Winter Championships in Christiansburg, VA. The winter championship meet always serves as a major milestone in the season, halfway between the start of training and the end of the season in April. It is the first test of one's improvement after months of training.

For me, the meet was all the more significant because it was during my junior year; the improvements I make this year will determine whether and where I might swim in college. So I went into the meet hoping to show some gains in my races, though I was also nervous, fearing that I would perform poorly. Over the course of the meet, I competed in the 500, 200, 100, and 50 freestyles, the 200 and 100 backstroke, and the 200 individual medley, all spread out over the three days with prelims and finals for each event.

Apart from being exhausted, by the end of the weekend I was pleased with my performance. I had swum personal bests in most of my events and had finally "broken" 50 seconds in the 100 free, swimming a time of :49.91, a goal of mine for quite some time. I was not so happy about other races; I did not go as fast as I would have liked in the 50 free or 200 IM, an event I have not significantly improved in since I was 14, but that is part of life; we win some and we lose some. Although my gains in speed were on the whole modest, they gave me optimism for where I will be at the end of the season. Now, it's back to the pool for more training in pursuit of my goals.

The pool during one of the prelim sessions

Christmas Tree Sales, 2012

From October to December, the youth group at my church sold Christmas trees to raise money for Glory Ridge, an annual week long mission trip to the mountains of western North Carolina in July. In order to so, youth manned a table outside of the sanctuary on Sunday mornings to raise awareness of the fundraiser, answer questions, collect money, and distribute order forms. I worked on two of these Sundays, personally convincing at least five members of the congregation to order trees from the youth group rather than purchase them on their own, an ability of persuasion I had no idea I possessed. Perhaps I am better at persuading people than I previously thought.

The most exciting part of the sale, however, was the day in December when the purchasers came to pick up the trees. We untied and trimmed the trees, ranging in height from 3 feet to 10 or more, shook off any loose pine needles with a treacherous red machine, covered the trees with netting by using a baler, and then strapped them to the tops of peoples' cars. The whole venture was understandably chaotic and a surprising amount of fun. Things went smoothly enough after organizing an assembly line-like procedure, and four hours later (with our bodies sticky from tree sap) we had finished.

Thanks to the sale, we raised over $4,000 for Glory Ridge, where the money will be used for work projects in Madison County, which has the highest level of poverty in the state. Poverty is an enormous issue that sometimes seems overwhelming, but every little bit, like what we will do at Glory Ridge, helps. I am also now a self-declared expert in Christmas tree baling, so there's that too.

My friend Ansley helping move trees

The baler!

Me strung up like a tree!

Christmas Parade

On December 1, the GHS Marching Band participated in the city's annual Christmas Parade. We spent the last two weeks of band class preparing for the parade, rehearsing our selection, a medley of carols including "Deck the Halls," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," and "Joy to the World," and practicing marching in straight lines, a deceptively difficult task. You have to coordinate each and every move with the person in front of you and the two at your sides. Memorizing a new piece of music is already challenging enough without knowing you will have to play it and march at the same time.

Our performance in the parade went smoothly enough, though the cold weather made it difficult to play and there were times when my section was not completely in step with each other or with the beat, something we should look to improve for our next parade. I have never particularly liked marching band, and consequently I was not looking forward to the parade. However, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, simply because I love impacting people with music. The whole purpose of a musician is to create music for others to enjoy, and by marching in the parade we did just that: we played music to help the residents of my hometown welcome the holiday season and enjoy the day. There were looks of genuine excitement in the crowd as we passed and people cheered and sang along to our notes. I think all musicians get a simple joy out of playing for other people, and it makes up for the drudgery of rehearsal and the difficulties of learning and performing.

Waiting for the parade to begin