Photo: Janelle Murphy - The St. James
Photo: TYR Sport
Photo: Torri Huske
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Janelle Murphy - The St. James
My Values and My Goals
Hard Work.
Gratitude.
Kindness.
I have three core values and that I live by – hard work, gratitude, and kindness. I believe these values are the reason for the success I have had. The first value, hard work, derives from my mother. My mother is a first-generation Asian American immigrant who has lived the American dream. She started with very little and through hard work, dedication, and a good education, she was able to make a life for herself. She taught me that if you work hard and believe in yourself, anything is possible. This is why my personal motto is, “I Am and I Can.” I’ve never been naturally good at something from the start. Not even with swimming. Hard work is the key to my success and has made me what I am today.
My second core value is gratitude. Gratitude is something I practice every day in my life, as it is one of the things that makes life worth living. It helps me appreciate the world and all its beauty. I’m someone that lives very much in the moment and sees beauty in the little things (I suppose I got this from my mom). Gratitude helps me do this. I do not worry about the future and all the things I don’t have. This helps me to better appreciate the present and all I do have. I’ve been given so many opportunities in my life, and it would be foolish to not acknowledge this. Gratitude helps me realize this.
My final core value is kindness. Kindness is the foundation of all my relationships. It comes from the realization that we are all human and we all have faults and needs. The act of being kind towards my family, friends, and coaches can take on many different forms. I practice kindness by expressing my gratitude towards the people I love, as the concept of kindness is deeply intertwined with gratitude. Kindness is also closely related to selflessness. One example of this is learning how to put others first. By practicing selflessness in this way, one learns how to uplift others.
As I have gotten older, my focus has become broader. and more and more I think about effect I have on others. I am grateful for all that I have and for being so blessed. These core values help me acknowledge this as well as my responsibility to give back. As I grow older, I want to make a difference and I want to have a positive effect on people and their lives.
My Goals
I am passionate about life and I believe that one must find purpose and joy in everything one does. Although I don’t think about them every day, there are things I want to accomplish in every aspect of my life. I know what I am capable of, and I believe that the only barriers that lay in front of me, are the ones I put there myself. I strive to learn and grow so that I can be a better person. In addition to those ambitions, I have always had goals. My goals continue to evolve as I get older and as I accomplish things. In high school, my primary goal was to go to a good school and to get a good education (Attending Stanford was always a dream of mine). I have also always had goals for my competition swimming, but those goals change and evolve over time as I make progress. When it comes to swimming, I prefer to set more short-term goals that I can accomplish daily to help me stay motivated.
Swimming has provided me with so much. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that I may have the ability to make a positive impact on both my community and the sport of swimming. There are so many people who have helped me on my journey. I owe it to them not only to do my best, but also to give back and “pay it forward”. That has led me to create goals for how I can make a difference going forward.
My personal, competition swim goals and non-competition swim goals are as follows:
Personal Goals
To Graduate from Stanford University
To get a masters and a doctorate
To embark on a career that I love
Competition Swimming Goals
To win an Olympic Gold Medal in a relay event
To win an Olympic Gold Medal an individual event
To win an NCAA Team Championship
To win NCAA an Championship in an individual event
Set a World Record in the 100M Butterfly
Non-Competition Swimming Goals
To give back to the sport and to the community
To help grow the sport of swimming
To help increase diversity in the sport of swimming