"Just Keep Swimming"

Throughout the course of my eight grade year, I have faced many challenges, in terms of writing. This can be portrayed with a quote. Via Walt Disney’s Finding Nemo, “Just keep swimming, “Just keep swimming!” Dory, a fish in the story, repeats the phrase to emphasize will power and to just move on. This connects to the challenges I have faced throughout my eighth grade year. No matter how high the order, I have “Just kept swimming,” and met whatever challenges there may be.

With the first writing piece of the year, “Why I Write”, I was faced with one of the most common and one of the most frustrating challenges known to writers; writer’s block. While writing this piece, for whatever reason, I could not convert my ideas to words on the paper. It was incomprehensible and extremely frustrating. However, I pushed through, broke the dead lock, and was able to convert many ideas that I had into words on the paper. I could have become overly frustrated and given up, but instead I “Just Kept Swimming,” and completed the piece.

Following the “Why I Write” piece, I was faced with the daunting challenge of an eight-page screenplay. I found this assignment to be boldly challenging because of the eight-page requirement. Normally, we are not given length requirements for our pieces, but I found this eight-page one to be especially difficult. While writing the piece, I slowly began to realize that my story wouldn’t be long enough. When I thought I had finished, it wasn’t.

With this, I persevered, and added in a little bit here, and a little bit there. I added enough so that my story just squeaked past eight pages. I “Just kept swimming,” and persevered through this piece. With my final writing piece of the year, my “Change in Time” piece, I was faced with the mountainous task of including thirty of our vocabulary words in my writing piece. Normally we are required to include ten, but thirty was a whole new mountain to climb. Initially, I found it challenging to incorporate many unfamiliar words into my writing.

I took it upon myself to more closely understand each word and how it might be used in a sentence. Following this, the task became more doable, and I was able to incorporate all thirty. With the “Just keep swimming,” demeanor, I successfully used them all, after my initial struggles. In each of the aforementioned situations I was faced with a challenge. I was able to overcome each of them with a persevering, “Just keep swimming,” attitude. This sort of mindset is essential in not only writing, but in life.

Each and every day, in a variety of ways, shapes and forms, we all “Just keep swimming!”