Diana Kleveter
May 2, 2011
Human Communication
As you all know, my name is Diana Kleveter. I am 19 years old and got to grow up in Long Beach California around a huge body of water. Growing up I got the privilege of being able to learn how to swim and enjoy being around water. Today I am going to share with you a bit about myself and the stories that got my inspiration for water activities going. I am also going to tell you what my plan would be if I were given a million dollars.
In my past growing up I was in many water sports and activities which consisted of being on a swim team, being on a water-polo team, being in synernize swimming, being on a diving team, being on a surf team, and also being a part of a lifeguard program. Through all of these teams and activities I had learned how to become a very good swimmer. Luckily, I got the opportunity to learn how to swim and not be afraid of the water at a very young age. However, not many people are as lucky as I got to be and are still afraid of learning how to swim. Back in California at my home public swimming pool Belmont Shore we had free swim slots open for individuals of the public to have a chance to come swim in the pool for only $5. The swimming pool would get extremely busy during these time slots and I thought that it was always interesting to see the people who just sat on the bleachers with their friends, the ones who would stay in the shallow water, and the ones who would go ahead and jump right into the deep end. I did not realize at first the reason so many individuals stayed on the bleachers or stayed in the shallow end was because they had been the ones who could not pass the swimming test to be able to go ahead and get over to the deep end of the pool.
I would like to start off by telling you all a story that I overheard one day just last week while I was in Arizona. A 9 year old boy and his family had also been visiting Arizona while the worst thing that could possibly happen did. His 2 year old baby sister had fallen into his grandmother’s swimming pool in the backyard; after the baby had been scooped up out of the swimming pool by their mother, Tristin, the little boy started performing CPR on his two year old sister. Tristin had only seen CPR done on the television; when everybody had doubt, he got his 2 year old sister to start breathing again.
After realizing how many people of the public in Long Beach California and other places, could not swim really opened my eyes and inspired me at a young age that I wanted to be the one to be able to help others learn. Helping others is my inspiration, and if I was given a million dollars, here is what I would do. I would open up a public swimming pool right here in Duluth, MN. I would have it open for swimming lessons for individuals of any age, for having water sports and activities, and also for learning first aid. The reason that I would choose to have it right here in Duluth MN is because I know this area well from living here for a few years; also because there is only one other pool here in Duluth, the YMCA, which always seems to be packed with people who know what they are doing, and also because I know that there are a bunch of unfortunate people going through financial difficulties that cannot afford to pay the money for their children to go do water activities.
Thinking about the financial part of things, parents would be able to send their children to my pool instead of sending them to a daycare for a cheaper price. So many individuals are so tight with their money living from paycheck to paycheck that they cannot afford for their children, or maybe even for themselves to have swimming lessons which is a very important thing to have the benefit to do. Cost for such an idea like mine also seems to have gotten a bit tight while going through all of the different costs that I would have to cover. I figure that if I could put this money given to me into a nice big building, where I can have a pool put in, get diving boards, get floaties or kickboards, and hire some intelligent and professional swimmers who are nice people with very friendly and nice attitudes; and can charge the public smaller than normal costs for classes, free swim, and water day-care to keep the money supply going, that my idea could be great and could open a door to help so many people.
If I charged only $15 for a 2 week swimming class from each individual and got at least 10 people to sign up per session, I would be bringing in at least $150 from each section of people every 2 weeks. Depending on how many sections I could get individuals signed up for, I could be keeping the cash flow coming in to put back into the public swimming pools area to try and upgrade it to make it better. The rest of the money that the public pool would get would be given to other causes like the ones that you have heard in the speeches within this past week.
Now I have shared with you what I would do if I were given a million dollars. I would open up a public swimming pool here in Duluth, MN, and call it_____. I have skimmed over the financial situation with you, and I have told you how I have been inspired to do this ever since I was young and from hearing shocking stories from other sources. It is important for any individual to know how to swim, and it is even more important for individuals to learn first aid and how to care for others in bad situations such as the Saghin families. Thank you.
Bibliography
Baumann, Mary Kate. Parent Dish. April 19, 2011.
I am using this website to tell the story about a little 9 year old named Tristin who saved his 2 year old baby sister on a family trip to Arizona after she had fallen into their grandmother’s swimming pool in her backyard.
Duluth Area Family YMCA.
I am using the YMCA here in Duluth, MN, as a reference for costs of the pool that I would like to create with my million dollars. I am trying to figure out costs, plans, and activities that the YMCA already has so that I can try and make my pool slightly different.
Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool. Tuesday, May 3, 2011.
This is another public reference for a public swimming pool that I am trying to create mine off of. This use to be the pool where I practiced for the Olympics for diving and where I also did all of my other water activities. Searching prices and all of the many different classes that this pool has now-a-days makes me even more motivated to get my pool just as good or better.
Pool Warehouse. Inground Swimming Pool Costs.
I am using this website to help me with what the cost would be to put an inground swimming pool into a building. I am trying to estimate roughly what that cost would be so that I can subtract it from my total.
ReadyKor. Cost of First Aid Kits.
I am using this reference to see how much first aid kits costs. I found out that they would be too much for me to give out to everybody who joined the first aid classes, but I thought the idea would have been nice.
Nextag. Diving Board, Swimming pools, & Hot Tub prices.
This website was one of my favorites to figure out costs of swimming pools and diving boards. Concidering that I wanted to have a few diving boards at my pool I needed to figure out the cost of them. There is one on here that looks very safe and has a reasonable price. As the board gets taller it gets more expensive.