I’ve participated in competitive swimming since I was 6 years old, and since then, I’ve thrived on chlorine, adrenaline and close competition. Measuring my life in laps, yardage and fractions of a second, a good portion of my waking life has been spent focused on the pool and working my way up to ruling it.

I finished my high school swimming career with my third berth to state and my first time in the finals of the 50 freestyle.

Then came college applications.

Torn between my life-long allegiance to BYU-Idaho, a life-long obsession with swimming and the opportunity to pursue it at BYU, and a life-long desire to graduate school financially secure with a large scholarship from the University of Arizona, a decision was hard to come by.

Obviously, in the end, I chose BYU-I, and with it, I chose the competitive swimming program here. And, from the beginning, I was a bit of a skeptic.

I was so used to swimming tens of thousands of yards a week, training to race other swimmers who trained just as much and approaching meets with focus, anxiousness and intensity, that my first experiences seemed like sweet salsa when I was used to the intensity of hot.

And I’m not going to lie, the whole business of having prayer before practice and relating swimming to the scriptures seemed a little silly to me, and the constant reminder to be “Christ-like” while competing just didn’t really mesh with my vision of competition.

But I soon discovered that I made judgments too quickly.

Now, as I just finished my fifth semester in the swimming program, and my second semester working on the sports staff of Scroll, I am a believer in and an advocate of the sports program at BYU-I. It serves many needs of the student body and has helped me prioritize my life.

While swimming competitively consumed a part of my life, it doesn’t and shouldn’t now. That season of my life ended and it is time to focus on other more important goals of gaining an education and getting work and leadership experience.

The time commitment of sports here allows for a much more well-rounded college experience.

Most importantly, I have learned that it is possible to learn principles about competitive sports from apostles, that prayer before swim meets is not a bad idea and that a sports program with less competition than I was used to was still worthwhile, and actually more fun.

I enjoy practice and learning from and interacting with other people. I’ve been impressed with students that come to compete who have never done it before, and don’t worry about winning, but just being there because they love what they do.

In my experiences coaching and attending sports meetings as the sports editor, I’ve watched student leaders care about, talk about and pray about their friends and fellow sports-loving students.

I’ve watched them deliberate on ways to more effectively include and enhance the students within their respective programs. And I’ve watched them and other participants grow and come closer to the Spirit as they strive to solve problems and serve others.

The sports program here gives students a break from school, a chance to stay healthy and in shape, to learn and grow in leadership experiences and to make friends, perhaps even friends for life, or eternity. I’m actually marrying a fellow BYU-I swimmer. Go figure.

In any case, the sports program, whether competitive or recreational, offers a unique environment.

It has changed my attitude and outlook on the role of sports in my education and life experience, and it does for many more students than ever before.

While I still have exciting memories of stepping up to the block in front of large stands of people and competing against world-ranked athletes, I am currently making much more lasting memories as I will leave the swimming program at BYU-I and step up to the rest of my life.