What I Learned From My Summer Job

By Zahra

Unlike many of my friends, I didn’t spend my summer working my butt off at some incredible internship, or traveling around the globe checking out exotic places. I put my seven years of competitive swimming to use and decided to teach people how to swim at a nearby university. Not only did I get to enjoy the gorgeous Miami weather on a daily basis (when we weren’t having torrential downpours) and get to look at the even more gorgeous guys, I learned some very interesting things.

For example, even the cutest little girl’s vomit will be vile when you are covered with it. And, even though the adorable boy you teach can’t be more than 40 pounds, his “accidental” kicks to your lady parts will make you see stars. Every. single. time.

Since I don’t plan on teaching swimming or working with kids in the future, I didn’t anticipate learning anything super important through this job. I figured I’d be in the sun, make some money, and get really pruney fingers now and then. But while I was teaching these little kids how to stay afloat in a large body of water, they were teaching me a much bigger lesson.

The thing is, kids are crazy confident. But it’s not just regular confidence; it’s the type that magazines promise you’ll get if you turn to page 124! It’s the kind that would keep you from caring if you ever fell face first in front of your crush, or even in front of your ex and his new girlfriend.

One of my students, Karl*, basically thought he was the next Olympian. He’d try a new stroke, completely butcher it, and come up gasping for air.”Good, right?!” he’d ask. At the end of the lesson, as a little treat, I would take Karl over to the diving board. He’d climb on up there and throw himself off of it, limbs outstretched, hollering in some language only 8-year-old boys can understand. He didn’t care who was watching or what they thought; he did what he wanted to do.

Then there was me, surveying the scene as I walked around the pool to see who was watching and if they noticed the cellulite on my thighs I was trying to cover with a pair of Soffes. I was conscious about my every move, constantly thinking about who was out there and what they were thinking of me.

Then there was Eloise*, a precious little four-year-old. Kid sank like a rock every time I let go of her. Even if I tried to help her along or bring her closer to the wall she was swimming to, she’d screech “No! I can swim!” while wriggling out of my grasp like a puppy. She had faith that she could do it, even though she kept messing up. Eloise didn’t ever seem scared of failing (or drowning, in this case), she was just excited to try again and see what she could do.

Where does this kind of confidence, this infallible belief in ourselves, go as we get older? Why can’t we just do what we want to do instead of getting bogged down by our fears of rejection, failure, and how other people perceive us? Why can’t we face the world with the “I can do that” attitude of our childhood selves, instead of with the feeling that we’ll never be good enough for everyone around us?

We need to get a hold of that confidence again!

These kids taught me that you can accomplish so much if you just fully, 100% believe that you can. This applies to everything, from getting a date with a hot guy that’s “out of your league” (I hate when people say that!) to scoring an A in econ if you’re not a math person (I could definitely use some confidence in that area). When we believe we will fail, we will. And when we focus more on what other people think, we lose ourselves.

I’m no failure and I’m definitely not ready to give up on being me. I may have taught my students how to swim without their floaties, but they taught my how to live without my baggage. And to consider investing in some protection for my lady parts.

*Names changed to protect the adorable.