Jack Peng(499117306) E3C Paul Simpson English Composition II May 9th, 2012

The French playwright, Moliere, wrote, The greater obstacle the more glory in overcoming it. Tell about a time you overcame a great difficulty.

Lots of difficulties appear in my life. The most difficult one happened when I studied in the previous school Ming Chi University of Technology before coming to TKU. I was 18 years old and was one member of the school team of swimming. I had very good skill and condition of swimming, including gestures, speed, and lung capacity. However, I didnt have enough muscular endurance to afford my body to swim for a long distance. I weighed only 55 kilograms with 25% of body fat percentage and had less muscles which made me difficultly break my own achievements. One of the seniors of the school team suggested me that I could do some weight trainings to gain muscles and improve the muscular endurance, but I didnt keep his advices in my mind. In 2008, the Olympics were held in Beijing. I watched the TV almost every day

to see my idol, Michael Fred Phelps who has won 16 Olympic medals. He vowed that he would get 8 golden medals in Beijing Olympics before the competition. After competing with many contestants from all over the world, he did it finally and showed his determination of winning. I like him more after he got 8 golden medals and I started to read the book No limits-The will to succeed which records everything about him. He is not only a natural prodigy but also he spends more than 300 days per year swimming in the pool and doing weight trainings. I wouldn't say anything is impossible. I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and put the work and time into it. Phelps says in the book. He inspiringly made me start my journey of weight training. At the beginning of the training in February, I could afford only a few pounds of weight because I had never done weight training before I started. That was a tough beginning, I had to lift 15 pounds of weight 12 times per round, and 5 rounds per day to improve the muscular endurance of arms, including biceps muscle and triceps muscle. After the first day of all training, there were aches all over my upper body because I hadnt got used to the intense training. At the same time, I had to keep swimming and jogging one hour a day, and three days a week to lose fat, but gain muscle. I could lift 20 pounds of weight for five rounds after being training for one month. After that, I started to control my diet and kept training as well. I had to avoid

the sources of fat and carbohydrate, like fries, cakes and any other junk food. Instead I had to absorb more protein and fiber, such as boiled white meat and vegetable to help me gain muscle efficiently and maintain good condition of my body. It was really a challenging time because I ate a bowl of salad, a piece of banana and a glass of milk for breakfast and boiled white meat, brown rice, fruits for lunch and dinner. It was extremely difficult to patiently eat all of the unpalatable food every day, but I overcame it because I desired to get improved. Three months later, I weighed about 60 kilograms with 18% of body fat percentage and had more muscles. During the period of training and dieting, I found that my muscular endurance had improved because I could swim for a little bit longer time. It made me have more confidence to continue my training and dieting. After doing all of these difficult processes for three months, I could swim faster and swim for a long time without exhausting. Fortunately, the school competition of swimming was held in May and I had the chance to take part in the competition to prove my progress. I did my best to get a good grade. My classmates cheered me loudly that made me could face it confidently. Ultimately, I got the second place of free style. I didnt disappoint my own hope and got a good grade in the competition. The greater obstacle the more glory in overcoming it. I totally agree with the French playwright, Moliere. Although it was an excessively tough time to me, but I tried to do my best to overcome all of the

obstacle in front of me. Finally I got what I deserved and learned a lesson from the toilsome processes.