COLUMN: Take a break from studying, make a splash
I have been swimming laps a couple of days a week for a few semesters now, being prompted after my beginning swim class last year. It isn’t anything too serious, but for me it’s a good workout. I always go to the indoor HPER pool, which is as good a pool as any, although it tends to be crowded and pretty cold when I start. I have really begun to enjoy swimming, but other than the laps, I haven’t really done any recreational swimming. However, just recently, something extraordinary happened.
It wasn’t long ago when the managers of my apartment complex opened up our pool again for the season. Since then, my roommates and I have been having what we call “pool time” as often as the sun and our schedules permit. It has become something almost sacred for us. We transform into entirely different people while we’re out there by the water relaxing, free, even if momentarily, from the responsibilities we have. The time at the pool next to our apartment building somehow allows us to get through an hour or so without a single concern. It is a time that is completely and totally enjoyable.
Sometimes pool time is premeditated, other times it’s very spontaneous, but we can often be seen sitting by the pool, letting the sun warm our sunscreen-saturated skin. We often holler at those from nearby apartments passing by the gate, trying to convince them to come join us. After sipping our beverages and soaking in the sun, getting into the water feels nice, too. Just being able to float around is enough, but letting the cool – but not HPER cold – water absorb the heat and stress from your body is an added bonus.
Playing pool games can be fun as well. Sharks and minnows has always been a hit with our group. It’s a game that can get pretty rough, though, sometimes – at least by our rules. In order to become a shark you have to be brought to the surface of the pool, so as long as you are underwater you can struggle free. For us it is a release of aggression, and pent-up physical energy that we neglect while we are cooped up in the library. When we started to play for the first time in several months, I felt much faster in the water than I used to be, and I can tell that my lap swimming had really helped me out. Between rounds, my friend Spenser tries to see how long he can swim underwater, I crawl out and lie right on the pavement to warm back up again. These carefree moments, the ones that make me feel like a pre-adolescent ruffian again, are those that I truly appreciate.
As college students, we are reaching a point in our lives where we are slowly becoming more and more professional. Our knowledge, our conversation, jobs, resumes and even our clothing start to reflect this. It is the way of life. Work is essential, and we are getting further down that path. Someday we will graduate and move into the occupations we’ve been working toward. Once this becomes our life, there might not as much time to easily allocate to wasteful hobbies. For some of us, these jobs are only the means with which we will support our hobbies and things like pool time. I have realized that for myself, while I am moving along toward that goal, I like to cherish and re-live the childish times, when nothing mattered, as often as I can.
– dhsteiner26@gmail.com