When I was five years old, I fell into a pool and I nearly drowned. Ever since that day, I’ve been too afraid to go near the water. A few years ago, my parents bought a vacation house that has a pool because they hoped I would be over it. But I still wouldn’t go near it. It was out of fear that I would almost drown again.

I can only watch as my friends walked together toward the community pool that’s next to our local park. I wanted to join them, but I was frozen in place as a million thoughts went through my head. If I tell my friends that I’m afraid of water, would they make fun of me? Will they help me get over my fear? I took a deep breath as I made my decision: I was going to face my fear of the water.

I open the gate to the community pool and stepped through.