Have you ever worried that your dreams would not come true? I know I have. As for Diana Nyad, I know she has as well. Diana Winslow Need, now known as Diana Nyad, is an extraordinarily inspirational swimmer born in New York City, New York. At the age of 64, she successfully swam from Cuba to Florida via the Straits of Florida. This swim was around 110 miles and took her a whopping 52 hours of swimming to successfully complete. Diana Nyad is truly inspirational.
Listening to her TedTalk was very empowering. I have never dreamt of swimming 110 miles but I think I speak for the majority of the world when I say we all have goals and we all sometimes question if we will ever reach them. Diana Nyad’s talk was very inspirational because she reminded me that literally, anything is impossible. For me, it has always been easy to simply blame my lack of success on my age or the fact I do not have enough free time. If Diana had the same mindset that I have sometimes, she never would have completed her swim.
This talk helped me to reflect on reaching some of my goals in my own life. While I probably will not ever swim the entirety of the Straits of Florida, there are many experiences I want to have in my lifetime. For instance, one of my goals is to complete the program A Semester at Sea. I have always wanted to do this program because it would give me to chance to see the world while learning about different cultures. As for more long term, I would love to get into whichever college I choose and hopefully find a career that fulfills me. Of course, I have many other goals in life but I am still trying to figure out where I see my future heading.
As for Diana, I am very happy she followed her dreams. She is the embodiment of what could happen if I have resilience and persevere. At the end of her Ted-Talk, she had a beautiful quote, to sum up her life and her work. She said, I’m proud of it all, but the truth is, I’m walking around tall because I am that bold, fearless person, and I will be, every day, until it’s time for these days to be done.” Well said, Diana. Well said.
Works Cited
Hollar, Sherman. “Diana Nyad.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 18 Aug. 2019, http://www.britannica.com/biography/Diana-Nyad.
Nyad, Diana. “Transcript of ‘Never, Ever Give up.’” TED, http://www.ted.com/talks/diana_nyad_never_ever_give_up/transcript#t-909767.“What Is
Semester at Sea?” Semester At Sea, http://www.semesteratsea.org/ad/?utm_source=adwords&utm_campaign=Search+|+Branded+KWs&utm_medium=ppc&utm_term=semester at sea&hsa_ver=3&hsa_cam=669681578&hsa_tgt=kwd-332490766&hsa_src=g&hsa_acc=
Chloe Powell's AP Bio Blogspot 
Hi Chloe, I loved reading your post! I thought you maintained a great voice throughout the blog because I felt as if I was talking to you while reading. I really related to your comment that it can be easy to blame lack of success on age or other excuses. I think this is something we all do, but Diana has shown that in order to succeed we cannot keep using excuses. I loved how you included multiple links, such as Diana’s TED talk, the biography of her life, and the Semester at Sea program you described in your post. I was not aware of the Semester at Sea program so it was nice that you provided an informational link. I do not catch any grammatical/spelling errors. The only change I would be to focus more on Diana’s swimming experience. You could add things about the challenges she faced, how she had to wear a mask to protect from jellyfish, etc. Overall, great job!
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