Modules #3/#7 - "MEMORIES & MANIFESTATIONS" - Fall 2021

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

Welcome to the Module 03 and Module 07 "Media & Manifestations" thread!

("Scroll-and-a-Half" / 150 words)

Module 03: (Manifestations - MS:HP I)
Write some kind of a Short Story or Poem that revolves around this month's Power. Let those creative juices flow!

Module 07: (Memories - MS:HP II)
Write about any memory (whether real and/or from the perspective of your HOL persona) which revolves around this month’s Power.

In addition to submitting via e-mail, you’re encouraged to post these publicly here. While this will not effect your points, it will encourage interactions by providing additional options for people to connect on, particularly for those who take part in the “Mixing & Mingling” portion of this month’s exercises if they enjoy or relate to your work and choose to talk about something you’ve shared.

[Prof. Will Lestrange]

When I was younger, I went to a summer camp in the Pennsylvania mountains where I had the opportunity to do all sorts of outdoor activities. One of those activities was swimming; while the water may have been cold and dirty, the feeling of moving through it was still satisfying. And as long as you could get by on sheer willpower and determination, I made plenty of progress very quickly: despite initially testing into the lowest level ('Level 2'), which was taught in a separate shallow area of the lake I decided - on a whim - to take the half-mile 'endurance test' in my first week and I was able to will myself through the 36 'laps' required (in the deeper part of the lake). And within a month, I had made it all the way to Level 4!

But there, my progress stopped. Level 4 was taught in the deeper part of the lake, but you could no longer get ahead just through effort alone: here, you actually had to swim your strokes with the proper form. Worse still, the Level 4 instructor assumed everyone already knew the proper form, so classes just consisted of swimming from one dock to the other, attempting to do the strokes called out by the instructor ("Do one lap of front crawl and then one lap of back crawl. Then go on your left side and do sidestroke for a lap.") While this is reasonable practice to improve speed and endurance if you already knows the strokes, those who don't yet have good form will only have more reinforcement and practice of their subpar form burned further into muscle memory. (No, my ten-year-old self probably couldn't articulate these words, but he could say that "Level 4 is boring, frustrating, and I am getting nowhere.")

Needless to say, I did not pass Level 4 on my first attempt; nor did I pass it the next year. After all, without any coaching at all, my form wasn't improving. And let's not even get into "deep water bobs"... which seemed impossible because there was no way I could force my body all the way down to the bottom of the lake!

My third year at camp, I was twelve years old - and sure enough, one of the activities on my schedule was Level 4 swimming. I changed into my clothes, headed out to the deep part of the lake, and prepared myself for another summer of futility. But this time I had a new instructor, who had different plans for me. For the beginning of the first class, he didn't even have us get into the water at all! He led us to the end of the dock, leading to the deep part of the lake and began to demonstrate a funny motion with his arms for us to watch - as he said "This is the arm motion for the front crawl". Starting from his arms at his side, his right hand moved all the way up his side until his thumb touched his armpit; from there, a he used circular throwing motion with the hand until it moved back to the starting position. Then he did the same thing with the left hand - and had us practice this on land a few times. Just a few minutes in this lesson, and I had already learned more about swimming strokes than I had learned in the past 23 months! The power of understanding was on in full force: not only did I understand much more about how the front crawl could really swim, but I now had a clear goal to work towards - and could actually envision myself improving my strokes enough to pass the Level 4 standard. And that's not even getting into seeing a completely different way of teaching swimming (i.e. seeing the stroke broken down to basics).

That day, I swam the best front crawl I had ever swum in my life; even if I was still a ways away from the Level 4 pass standard (I wasn't quite able to do the breathing technique), for the first time in my long time I could actually imagine a universe where I could swim well enough to pass the class. That had me actually putting in effort in my swimming classes: paying careful attention to all the tips I received in technique - and taking advantage of unscheduled periods to practice further (to the point I was actually disappointed when the unusually high number of thunderstorms that month canceled a lot of swimming classes and testing sessions). And on the final testing day of the month, I was informed that I had indeed (barely) passed Level 4!

One of the main reasons why I was able to level up here was indeed the Power of Understanding being activated by my teacher that month: when I properly understood something about how swimming strokes worked - and that I wouldn't need to consistently flail on my own in hope that I somehow landed on the correct way to swim - I was finally able to activate my other strengths (such as determination) to improve!

[Emerald Wolvenhowl]

My cousin and I visited the seaside. It was a long walk from one end of the beach to the other but we took our time, stopping often to just stand still and admire the sea. By the time we got close to the end of the sand the tide had started to come in quickly.

We didn't want to risk retracing our steps because we thought we might get caught by the tide but there were no steps or promenades to lead us off the sand. There were only two other ways to leave the beach; we could either attempt to climb the high set of rocks nearby or we could climb a sand dune.

The dune was small, and my cousin got to the top of it easily. I, on the other hand, kept falling over and sliding down it. He thought it was hilarious, but I didn't give up and I finally made it to the top.

Struggling to climb a dune was a bit embarrassing but I am glad It happened, for it taught me a lesson: If I want to achieve something (regardless of how big or small that goal is) then sometimes I might 'fall' along the way but that is okay. It doesn't matter how many times that happens so long as I persevere and get back up because ' falling' encourages me to find a different way to overcome the situation I am in.

[Silvana Mandeville]

Swing my legs and run fast.
Jump over the bump.

Stand up high as myself.
Overthrown fear and doubt.
Converge the courage.
Seized the future.