Kim Dale:
"These past four years didn't go as I had planned. There weren't any short cuts swimming at UB, and more times than not, the only way to get where I wanted to go was the long way around. I messed up and fell down, I tried things that didn't work and sometimes picked the wrong answer. It wasn't easy. But, despite all of that, the difficulty of what I did might just be the reason why I enjoyed it so much.
To keep this from sounding like an acceptance speech at an award show I won't spend too much time thanking everyone, but I couldn't have become who I am today without the people in my life now. My parents and sisters, first and foremost, who never stopped supporting me...and never hung up the phone when I called making ridiculous claims that I would fail out of nursing school, get kicked off the swim team or that I was going to drown in the pool. Equally important, I want to thank my teammates and coaches for pushing me farther than I thought I could go, encouraging me when I thought I couldn't keep going and for their humor in both good and bad times. Additionally, I want to thank my friends in the nursing department, who befriended me despite my chlorinated smell and me being either half asleep in class or hyped up on caffeine.
I have met so many wonderful people from all over, gotten so many diverse opportunities and my whole life changed because of that. These were some of the best times of my life and I got to wake up every morning smiling because of what I got to do here at UB and the people I got the chance to meet. I truly believe that I am the luckiest person alive."
Kim
