盡管April是本期Young Adult Creative Writing工作坊中年紀(jì)最小的孩子，但她對(duì)生活細(xì)致入微的觀察和對(duì)寫作的激情在一開始就給老師們留下了深刻印象。在這篇關(guān)于皮劃艇運(yùn)動(dòng)的文章中，她將焦灼、緊張的心情與環(huán)境描寫進(jìn)行了巧妙的融合，通過生動(dòng)的人物語(yǔ)言、動(dòng)作，在一次次嘗試，一次次落水重來中完成情節(jié)的遞進(jìn)和角色的成長(zhǎng)。

除了皮劃艇，April在表達(dá)與寫作上的進(jìn)步和成長(zhǎng)也是家長(zhǎng)和老師們有目共睹的：從一開始面對(duì)課堂發(fā)言有些害羞，到后來全程積極活躍地參與討論；從一開始的一個(gè)idea，到幾句話，再到完整的作品，這篇文章也在和導(dǎo)師一起反復(fù)打磨和修改后有了它現(xiàn)在的模樣。

現(xiàn)在，讓我們一起來讀讀April是如何描繪她最愛的運(yùn)動(dòng)皮劃艇，以及她和皮劃艇那些打動(dòng)人心的故事吧！

Riding the Waves of Courage

By April

I was standing behind the metal gate, holding my paddle tightly.

The sun was reaching its peak, shining above me and 25 other students like a spotlight. My best friend, Joy, stood beside me.

"Can I really do this?" I searched her face for the answer.

Two coaches in blue life jackets lifted the latch and motioned for the group to enter. The old gate creaked loudly as I passed through, making me even more uncomfortable. When I stepped onto the dock, I realized there was no going back. A line of orange, yellow, and red kayaks floated on the surface of the lake ten feet ahead. They looked brand new, smooth and shiny, waiting to be sat on. The coach knelt with a clipboard and pen, checking that all the kayaks were safe. He was wearing a black t-shirt beneath his blue tracksuit and a pair of goggles.

My eyes drifted from the dock to the lake I'd driven past on many occasions, but never stopped to get out and take a look. It shimmered gently with the rippling waves. Behind it was a vast expanse of green. I pictured myself rowing in the center, the water smooth like glass as my kayak glided softly over it, feeling calm and free. A sharp voice cut through the air, slicing me out of my daydream. It was the coach.

"Is everyone wearing their life jackets?" The coach shouted over the group, looking serious. A few students wiggled in their places.

"Now everyone, line up and get into your kayaks!"

I looked at Joy. "Gee! Those kayaks look really big! Do you think we can do this?" I muttered, to her holding my paddle even tighter.

"I don't know..." she looked as scared as I was.

The crowd started to move forward, a huddle of laughter and conversation. My body acted before my mind could stop it. We stepped into the smooth, slippery kayaks, the first hurdle to cross in conquering our fears. I slid in easily but felt weird sitting there. Just one little wiggle of my body and a pool of liquid touched my skin.

"Yuck!" Joy suddenly shrieked. "There's seaweed and a dead fish inside!" She held her nose. "It stinks, too!" "Oh golly!" I peered into her kayak and saw a mostly rotten fish covered in seaweed.

"Ugh! I want to switch!" she sighed.

"Yeah, can't imagine that!" I replied. I shook my head, trying to erase the image from my memory.

"GET READY!" One of the coaches yelled. I felt my brain shift from disgust about the dead fish back to bubbling nervousness.

"Splash!"

And just like that, we were off. The crowd of students became a mass of colorful kayaks sailing over the river. The cool breeze brushed my face as I floated freely on the peaceful water and in one row of my paddle all of my fears were gone. From the first moment, I fell in love with kayaking. Every time I sat in my kayak, paddling and watching the water splash on the lake's surface, it made me feel lighthearted. With every stroke, ripple, and gentle glide across the calm lake I felt more and more at ease. Whenever I felt upset when the library book I'd reserved got taken right before I arrived, or when the group project's presentation got delayed at the last minute, paddling my kayak in the river on a sunny day always made me feel better.

At the end of the semester, it was time for my first kayaking test. Our coach announced that he would choose the best from our class and create a kayaking club to help us improve. I decided right away that I had to win the championship. I wanted to prove myself, show my strength, and learn more. I was incredibly confident. I knew that I was capable of being the best. I couldn't sleep that night, imagining what it would be like to win. I could already hear the cheers, and clapping sounds from my teammates, as if I had already won.

The next morning the sun shone extra bright and warm on my face. The golden rays streamed through the bus window, soft and gentle, lighting everything outside. I approached the familiar dock like a soldier ready for a war.

After months of practice, I was no longer afraid of flipping over. The once daunting movements of rowing forward and backward were almost too easy for me. I sailed on the lake easily then waited for the race to begin at the starting point. I gave out a confident smile, then straightened my back and lowered my shoulders. When I heard the sound of the whistle, I knew the game was on! All of us - me, Joy, and other students paddled forward like flying arrows. I put all my strength into each stroke, trying to go as fast as I could to take the lead. As time went by, the gaps between me and my competitors gradually widened, and I became the first in the group. With every stroke of my paddle, I widened the space between me and the rest. As I raced on, the finish line was almost within reach. I began to row with full effort.

I blasted across the finish line in a final burst of speed, spraying water sparks everywhere and bursting with confidence. I looked up at my coach and he smiled.

"So, the people who are going to join this club are... Ethan, April, and Louis!"

I turned to Joy, she smiled at me, then a little disappointment appeared on her face. I guess she got cut from the team.

Hearing my name felt like winning a million-dollar lottery, I had never been happier in my life!

When the coach told us to come back for a three-hour practice on Friday and Saturday, I didn't think twice.

When I stepped into the room to change clothes that Friday, I saw a group of unfamiliar faces. Some looked around my age, while others appeared older. As I put down my bag, I overheard them talking to each other and sharing their kayaking experiences. I recognized a few of them from the winners podium. A flicker of unease stirred within me. I really wished Joy was there! We could talk about our feelings and even laugh together.

"Hi! Are you new here?!" A girl in a black tight-fitting suit asked me.

"Yeah," I replied. She was a bit shorter than me and quite skinny. Her face was covered in acne, but a pair of goggles blocked her eyes.

"Nice to meet ya, my name's Katie."

"Nice to meet you too," I smiled.

As my eyes scanned from her head to her feet, I noticed that her fingers were covered in calluses. A worried feeling mixed in my heart.

"Um... excuse me, but where did that come from?" I asked, motioning to the rough patches on her hands.

"Oh, it's nothing. You know, holding the paddle for too long might cause that," she said. "Don't worry. Everyone needs to go through this process in order to be better."

I looked down at my own hands, soft and innocent. I wondered about what other parts of my body I would have to sacrifice.

Just as I was putting on my pants, I heard a group of girls talking about "recreational kayak," "K kayak," and "sea kayak." I didn't know what the hell those words meant and my fear rose up in me like a storm. For the first time since I started kayaking, I was beginning to feel out of my depth. All the confidence I had in the race was replaced by nerves and anxiety. I was so excited about winning; I hadn't considered how hard it would be to train.

When I finally finished changing all my clothes, the other girls were already outside. I rushed to catch up, horrified I might make a bad first impression. I grabbed my equipment frantically and ran to the field where everyone had already gathered. I found a spot at the back, hoping no one had noticed.

When I finally saw the coach, I had butterflies in my stomach. There he was, tall and serious, waiting for us to line up.

"So, I see many new faces around here! And I assume that all of you think that you're the best — wrong! From now on, you will be training with us, the best kayaking team in the school, and you will see what real kayaking is like!" As he was talking, his eyes scanned the crowd from right to left, as if he was taking mental notes on every person. I felt a sudden cold strike on my head when he stared at me. The way his eyes looked at me, like they could devour me whole, made me want to find somewhere to crawl into and hide.

"Now line up and get ready to warm up!" he ordered. As I was wondering what kind of warm-up exercise it could possibly be, he announced, "On the track, everyone, on the track!"

My brain flashed red. What? Not that! Anything EXCEPT that! Kayaking requires us to RUN?! Oh please, can't you just think of some "calmer" way to warm up? I joined the group on the track and began to run; every loop around nearly destroyed my body. As I ran, I reminded myself that I'm naturally good at sports, so a bit of running wouldn't kill me. But how could something intense be called a "warm up"?

By the time we got back to the dock, it was already getting dark. I was so tired that I could fall asleep in 5 seconds, but the training had just started. I stared at the kayaks by my feet and felt that a familiar thing had become unfamiliar. These were not the kayaks I was used to. They were longer and thinner, made to move faster in water.

"In your kayaks!" the coach ordered. Everyone climbed in as if it were business as usual. But I hesitated. I stood before them, trying to process rapid change. Finally, I decided to give it a go, so I climbed in, held my paddle tightly, and waited to be pushed from the dock into the water. At the moment I was pushed down, a sudden feeling of uncontrollable imbalance frightened me.

"Wowwwww Wooooow!" I cried.

"Splash!"

Then I fell.

The cold water swallowed me like a wild beast. I was freezing! I flailed around, trying to stay afloat, until I was finally able to crawl back in the kayak. Everyone’s eyes evaded me, as if I had committed some unforgivable crime.

This time I tried as hard as I could to stay balanced, then I began to row. Once, twice... and just as I was celebrating, I realized every single movement needed to be made with the utmost precision. I thought I'd finally got the hang of it when another kayak flew by. I couldn't believe what I saw — it was Katie! That skinny girl from the changing room! A realization hit me like a wave, size had nothing to do with strength.

That day, I spent the entire 3-hour class falling and climbing back in, while others were rowing swiftly at the front of the pack. I went home feeling devastated. Emotionally, and physically, crushed.

By the time Sunday rolled around, I still hadn't recovered from Friday. When my mom shouted,

"April! Quickly! Time to go training! You will be late if you don't hurry!" I wanted to scream, LET ME REST!!!

Rain was coming down in droves, making for a miserable afternoon as I took the bus to the lake. Surely, we won't have to train in this, I thought. But despite the downpour, the coach forced us back in the kayaks.

With every movement I could feel the rain pouring down, soaking into my clothes and chilling my skin. Water splashed and pooled inside my kayak, keeping me wet and freezing as I pulled myself over the water. When a bucket of the cold rain slammed into my face, stinging my eyes and pouring into my mouth, I choked and gasped for air. Suddenly, I lost my balance and flipped the kayak over. I plunged into the icy water, soaked to the bone, shivering helplessly as the freezing rain and cold water surrounded me completely. If the life jacket hadn't pulled me to the surface, I might still be there.

I swam to my kayak and tried to flip it over. No use. It had too much weight on its own, plus there was plenty of water inside.

Just as I was stuck with no solution in sight, I heard a familiar voice.

"Do you need help? We can flip the boat over together." Then a skinny black figure appeared in my sight. It was Katie.

I couldn't speak amidst the water, so I raised my hand to the surface with an "OK" sign. I watched as she used her paddle to lever up the boat. I hurried forward to help and at long last; by doing this together, we flipped over the boat. I climbed up quickly and thanked her.

Despite her kindness, I left the session soaked through like a sponge full of water. I never wanted to paddle in the rain again!

The following training involved a similar level of effort and failure. Every time, I would flip over and climb up, again and again, and I didn’t improve.

Then one day after training, as I was walking on the dock and trembling because of the cold, I was suddenly called by the coach.

"April! Come!" He ordered.

I was jolted with fear, then felt terrified and confused. The coach had never called me alone! My first thought was that I had done something terribly wrong or upset him. Still, I forced myself to walk towards him reluctantly. When I finally reached him, he opened his mouth without hesitation, "How many times do I have to show you? You call this paddling? You’re not even trying! You’re wasting time and you still haven’t mastered the simplest skills! You should have nailed the K-kayak right now, and you didn’t even master the recreational one? This is my last warning! By the end of the next class, I wanna see you paddling it smooth and fluid!" His lines were short, but razor-sharp, every word hits where it hurts the most. The coach walked away disappointedly, and didn’t even look at me. I stood there frozen, awkward and lost, unsure whether I should leave or stay.

That night was quiet, so silent I could hear my own heartbeat, unsteady breathing, and that faint hum of the air conditioner. I lay awake in bed, tossed and turned, unable to settle. The coach’s sharp words replayed in my head over and over in an endless echo. My chest was tight with worry and fear that I would never get it right, that I was just wasting my time and letting everyone down. But as the silence of the night wrapped around me, I slowly stopped letting those anxious thoughts control me. I thought about the first time that I experienced the joy of kayaking. The love I had for it, and the happiness of every time I won a race… was I really willing to give up this sport just like that? Just because some harsh sentences from a coach? I spoke firmly to myself inside my head: I won’t quit, I won’t let one harsh moment break me. I will go back next time and practice harder than ever until I finally improve, until I can make myself proud and prove that I am capable. With that quiet, unshakable determination settling in my heart, I no longer felt only fear and doubt but a strong, steady determination to keep going no matter what.

From that day on, I was never afraid of training again. I saw fear as an enemy that needed to be defeated. Every stroke of the paddle was steady and deliberate, no longer hurried or clumsy. I repeated the movements again and again, even when my arms burned and my shoulders ached. If I fell into the freezing water, I got back up. With the help of Katie, I was able to train more effectively and efficiently.

I finally improved with tons of practice. One day I decided to put my hard work to the test. "Hey, Katie! You wanna race?" I asked her excitedly.

"You can’t defeat me!" she smiled proudly.

"Well, we’ll see if that’s true!" I put my paddle forward, ready to begin.

When the signal started, I dug my paddle deep into the water and pulled with all my strength, my arms burning with every stroke. I kept my balance steady and my rhythm consistent, refusing to slow down even when my breath grew unsteady. Katie was right beside me, her strokes quick and powerful, pushing me to go faster—she was tough, but I was tougher. With one final push, I pulled the paddle hard, surging ahead of Katie, and crossed the finish line first.

"Oh, yeah!"

At that moment, a wide, joyful smile spread across my face. I could hardly believe I had won! All my tiredness disappeared in an instant, replaced by pure happiness and pride. Katie paddled over to me, breathing heavily but smiling.

“You were amazing! You won fair and square,” she said.

Hearing her words made me even happier. I turned back and saw the coach wearing a surprised smile in my direction. I felt like I was on top of the world.

Kayaking taught me the power of perseverance. I realized that giving up was never the answer, and this belief quietly shaped my daily life. It pushed me to keep trying when things got hard, stay patient when I failed, and take every small task seriously. My favorite sport allowed me to develop a mindset that has made me stronger and more determined in all aspects of life. On and off the water.

April is a quiet writer who loves reading fiction stories, and enjoys writing creative personal essays. She was once socially anxious and often stayed quiet around others but reading and writing became her safe space. Her goal is to express herself bravely and get better at kayaking. She has a lovely little parrot named wheat and really dislikes eating cilantro. If you enjoy warm and honest writing, you can follow her and read more of her work.

April 是一位安靜的寫作者，喜歡閱讀小說，也熱衷于創(chuàng)作富有想象力的個(gè)人隨筆。她曾有些“社交恐懼癥”，在他人面前常常比較沉默，但閱讀和寫作是她安心棲息的避風(fēng)港。她希望能更勇敢地表達(dá)自己，也想把皮劃艇劃得越來越好。她養(yǎng)著一只可愛的小鸚鵡，名叫 Wheat，它不喜歡吃香菜。如果你喜歡溫暖而真誠(chéng)的文字，可以關(guān)注她并讀一讀她更多的作品。

寫作導(dǎo)師

Julia Hollingsworth

Julia擁有University of East Anglia（UEA）創(chuàng)意寫作（非虛構(gòu)方向）碩士學(xué)位，以及Abilene Christian University英語(yǔ)文學(xué)學(xué)士學(xué)位。此外，她還在Institute of Ongoing Education at Cambridge University完成了創(chuàng)意寫作證書課程和文憑課程。2019年，她以本科學(xué)術(shù)論文榮獲德克薩斯創(chuàng)意寫作協(xié)會(huì)頒發(fā)的“最佳本科論文獎(jiǎng)”。

評(píng)語(yǔ)：

April,

You have managed to put so much into this story: the emotional, the physical, even some poetic descriptions of place and movement! I enjoyed so many lines throughout and have to commend you on the revision and editing you did. It really paid off. The structure was so well chosen; as stated above, the reader goes on the journey with you and feels all of the trials and joys of a really challenging sport (even if they are like me and have never really kayaked!). This essay is all about growth! The reflection is clear throughout.

I think this would easily find its way to publishing if you chose to submit it. The only thing missing is the title!

It was so great to have you in class. I really enjoyed your insights and your ability to take readers into your world and share your perspective. I hope to see you in a future course and read more of your writing someday soon!

Sincerely, Julia

April所參加的Young Adult Creative Writing青少年專業(yè)英語(yǔ)創(chuàng)意寫作系列工作坊2026年春季招生持續(xù)進(jìn)行中，歡迎來詢！

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