Sitting at the Marshalls, with my time card in my hand, I started to realize where I was and what I was finally doing. Thoughts of "I'm not good enough to be here" started floating around my head. As much as I tried, I could not get this thought out of my head the whole time I was sitting with my other seven competitors. As my race approached and I clambered up the stairs and got behind my lane, ready to race, the thought started to disappear.

I started to look around the crowd. I saw the officials and finally my competitors. Seeing their faces, their concentration, their anguish, I finally glanced down my lane. At the start and the end of this lane were two walls. In between the two walls was water. And in the water was my DREAM.

What came next was my realization. A dream is based on your reality, your strengths and your weaknesses. If my dream was above the ground then I just made the foundations to make it concrete, a reality.
"I'm here aren't I?" - I said to myself.

I swam the race of my life. I wasn't placed anywhere, but just to be here was my dream. People often thought that I couldn't do it and I wouldn't do it. So when I got here, the best feeling I had was when I figured out that "I was good enough, not only because I made the qualifying time but mainly because I never gave up; I gave my dream a shot."

An aim, a dream, a focus; never think you have set your goals too high. You will just have the bigger challenge of achieving it.