I remember with painful clarity my first few months as a college freshman. It was supposed to be the most exciting time in my life- but I had hit an all-time low. I was away from home, and I missed my family. I had come to a massive university, where I didn't know a single person. To put a cherry atop, I was still reeling from an ugly breakup with the guy I believed was the love of my life, which occurred roughly three days before I packed up my life and headed out the door.

To say the least, I was not in the mood to make friends. Oh, and believe me- I most certainly did not. I was pretty much on my own, to say the least. I thankfully made it into the sorority of my choice, Kappa Alpha Theta (miraculous, considering my robotic disposition), and my only contact with the people around me was through this. My main activities consisted of eating, sleeping, and calling my family and my best friend back home. When classes began, things did not improve much. I was instantly overwhelmed.

Then one day, during dinner at my sorority house, a man came into our dining room, and asked to make an announcement. At first, I wasn't really paying attention- but as he talked, what he was saying started to kind of stick with me. He explained the he was Louis Shedd, here to ask us to participate in the YMCA's Learn To Swim program, which teaches local children that are unable to swim in order to reduce drowning rates, which are extremely high in my city. I love kids. I always have. So I was instantly interested- I tracked down his contact information and e-mailed him a few nights later.

Ok, so let's not pretend I'm a huge "volunteer" person. I had never volunteered in my entire life. But. But. When I had that first kid run up to hug me, shrieking with excitement just because I was there, it was like a storm breaking, just a little bit. Now I teach about four classes a week.

I'm not sure I can explain why it's so crucial to me. It just is. Their perspectives on life are both simple and stunningly complex. A little girl who was convinced that putting her face in the water would instantly drown her looked at me very seriously and asked,

"When you're afraid to do something, what do you do?"

Indeed.

My reply came so fast that I didn't even realize I had an answer until it came out of my mouth.

I said,

"Well, you just have to do it anyway."

Indeed.

It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. I suddenly understood that if I could tell someone else to be brave, I could tell myself to do the same. I kept this in mind as I set about putting my life together. As time passed, I kept reminding myself, do it anyway, do it anyway, do it anyway.

Do it anyway.

I started to make myself do the things that were hard to me. I started reaching out to the people around me, and soon I had made several fabulous friends that have been there for me ever since. I started to make plans for myself, ones that involved only me, no one else. I had more dreams than I ever realized. When I first dove into my adult life, I nearly drowned. It took hitting the bottom to right myself, and, funny as it seems, those kids were the sunlight at the top to pull me upward to the surface.

Things that came to mind while I wrote this:

Really cute book for kids, and Michael Buble. Mmm.

Treasure at Sea for Dragon and Me, A: Water Safety for Kids (and Dragons)

Michael Buble's new album:) Crazy Love