Being the Inspiration (PB)

As most of you already know, tomorrow is the first day of fall which marks the beginning of one of my favorite things: swim season. Though the swim season is always long and busy, swimming is something I love so much that even a week without being in the pool feels like an eternity!  The start of this season has been particularly exciting because one of the coaches on the YMCA swim team suggested starting a program where an older swimmer mentors a younger swimmer.

The idea of mentoring a younger swimmer has got me thinking about the importance of inspiring others. Because of this, I’ve been thinking about all the people who have inspired me in many different aspects of my life, and how I can learn from them to inspire others.

One inspiration of mine, who came to my mind while I was thinking about this blog, is a girl who would probably never consider herself an inspiration. This girl is a section leader in the marching band, and she has taught me so much more than how to be a decent musician. She has taught me the importance of knowing where everything is and where everything needs to be. She has taught me that anything is possible with hard work and dedication. She’s taught me that the best attitude is the calm and collected, especially when faced with a difficult challenge. She’s encouraged me, and told me things will be okay, even when things are looking really bad. From her I’ve learned that things are what you make them, and that having fun and doing things correctly can be done simultaneously.

After thinking about all the things that people who have inspired me have taught me, I’ve realized that inspiring someone is a lot more than just influencing them with few quick words of wisdom. Inspiring someone is when you give them the tools and the encouragement to be the best they can be. Whether it’s mentoring these younger swimmers or helping someone in another way, I want to inspire them. I want to be a role model that helps people be the best they can be.

As a challenge, I want you to think about the different people who have inspired you and made a lasting impression on your life. How can you use what you’ve learned from others to inspire those around you?

Ice Bucket Challenge: Are You Doing the Best Thing For ALS? (SSR)

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is a viral trend that has been sweeping the world for the past few months, and I’ve heard that the challenge has raised millions of dollars for ALS research and treatment, but I haven’t heard much about what ALS actually is.

Originally, after scrolling through my Facebook feed over the summer, I saw quite a few of my Facebook Friends posting videos of themselves getting drenched in ice water. All of these posts had similar captions; “This is my ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, and I was nominated by soandso and I nominate thisperson”. Honestly, I think I could’ve gone through this social media craze without ever finding out what ALS is!

Fortunately, when my mom and I were nominated, I sat down and did some research about ALS. I learned that ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Scleroses, also referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The degeneration of motor neurons stops the brain from having control over muscles in the body; this will eventually lead to paralysis and then death.

A few days after doing my Ice Bucket Challenge I was talking to a woman who had just recently done her own challenge, and she said that even after doing the challenge she didn’t know what ALS was. This got me thinking, do people doing the Ice Bucket Challenge know what they’re even doing the challenge for? So after going through my Facebook feed and searching for more videos on YouTube, I came to the conclusion that a lot of people don’t post what ALS is, or how people can help the organization, or encourage their Friends to raise awareness for ALS.

So my first point in this blog is: how’re we raising awareness for ALS if we aren’t posting what ALS is?

 The Ice Bucket Challenge, in my opinion, has turned into more of a trend then a way to raise awareness. More people are looking up funny Ice Bucket Challenges and Ice Bucket Challenge bloopers than looking up how to help fund ALS research or signs and symptoms of ALS. Now, I'm not writing this blog post to say that everybody that has posted their Ice Bucket Challenge video has gone without describing what ALS is, or doesn’t support ALS or ALS awareness. I’m writing this to encourage more people to do what the challenge was made for, which is of course to raise awareness about ALS, this bring me two my second point in writing this blog…

What’s the best way to support and raise awareness for ALS?

For me the best way to support and raise awareness for ALS was to write this blog, and to remind the people around me what the Ice Bucket Challenge is really about. For you it could be any number of things from raising awareness by posting a description of ALS with your next Ice Bucket Challenge, to donating money, or to going to the ALS Association website [http://www.alsa.org/]and finding out how you can help your community.