The week of September 30th to October 3rd was full of excitement for sophomore Emma Smith. As a member of the Sunlake Swim and Dive team, she recently took home a victory at the Sunshine Athletic Conference (SAC), a major swim meet featuring all the swim teams in Pasco County. “Winning conference was probably the highlight of my week,” Emma stated, “I was really nervous about it. I probably spent most of my time this week with Coach Guerby and the team preparing for it. [However] I was proud of dropping 5 seconds off my 100 back time!” 

Despite the dedication and energy that she put into swimming this week, it wasn’t the only great thing for Emma. “Something really exciting about this week was… that I had no tests this week. I still have tests for this upcoming week though. I was also nervous about taking my first PSAT.” Emma noted that taking the PSAT was another major event for her. She also mentioned that, “my grandparents visited me from New York and I went to Disney.” 

As for the future, there were upcoming events that Emma began getting ready for this week as well. “I’m preparing to go visit New York sometime in the next month.” New York is where Smith used to live before moving to Florida this year. “I wish that I had booked myself the flight earlier, as I am visiting my best friend for her birthday next month, instead of waiting until now, because now the flights are much more expensive.” Emma adds that now that swim season is over she plans on joining a new extracurricular. “It’s called the ‘US Sea Cadets’. It helps to prepare you for Naval academy and it starts this month. I’m actually planning on going to the United States Naval Academy and becoming an officer in the navy.” 

“I would rate my week as a 7/10,” Smith concludes. “It wasn’t as stressful because I didn’t have too many assignments and I just didn’t have much to do. The week had it’s ups and downs.” Even without too much to worry about, Emma’s week was still bursting with anticipation, from the swim conference to her upcoming plans.