I often think back to the first time I jumped off the diving board. It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it was a big day. It was mid-summer and we were at the Deer Lake pool. The sun was shining, sending warmth through the ceiling and walls made of glass windows. The water was set at 82 degrees as always and my older cousin was with us. He is like a big brother to me; he has always been a big influence. I watched him jump off the diving board and he looked brave and strong, but I was too scared. It was too high up, and the water was so deep! His head popped out of the water, “Come on Natty, why don’t you try it?” I looked over to my mom and she shook her head no.“Why can’t I?” I whined as she gave me a “too bad” face. I was still scared but I didn’t want everyone to think I was. She went on explaining that it was too deep and she didn’t think that I could swim well enough yet. But now I realized I wanted to do this. I wanted to do it for me, not just to please Mikey. I didn't see the significance in it then, but I do now. I don't need to do things because everyone else is, I should do it because I want too. It looked fun and I wanted to feel brave since I didn’t often try new things.
After I worked on convincing my mom, we agreed I could do it if I wore my life jacket. I rolled my eyes and put my arms through the holes of my yellow SpongeBob life jacket and zipped it up. I walked on the white wet tile over to the diving board. My legs were shaking as I climbed up the three short steps. I brushed my hands along the railing as I went to place my pink painted toes at the end of the blue diving board and looked down at the deep water wondering how far it was to the bottom, then glanced up at my family who was waiting across the pool for me to jump. I took one last big breath and leaped off. My stomach dropped before I hit the water but once I did, I popped right back up. No one around us was too impressed and carried on with their games and loud conversations but all I wanted was to hear my family’s voices cheering for me. “Yay Natty!” I flashed them a big smile and doggy paddled over to the ladder.

I had a lot of fun that day, not just because I jumped off the diving board, but I tried something new. I need to try new things, even if it seems frightening because many things in the world are. If I don’t try it, then I am missing out because I might end up loving it. I left with a new sense of pride and an open mind that I still try to use today.