Although the autobiography i am reading is about Natalie Coughlin, it also tells a lot about the people around her. You learn about her college coach, Teri Mckeever, her parents and siblings, and also teammates. The author includes these people in the "story" because they are a part of Natalie's life. Her decisions affect them; their decisions affect her. One constant theme throughout the book is that even though one may make a decision with yourself in mind, it affects others as well.
One of the biggest decisions in someone's life is where they want to go to college. For Natalie, one of the main factors that affected her decision was swimming. She decided she wanted to go to Cal, because of the coach and team there, even though her parents wanted her to go to Stanford. Natalie's parents said that "Oh god she (Natalie) hated us. That whole situation was really ugly, and it took about two years to live it down" (61). For weeks the Coughlins fought over where Natalie wanted to go to school. The disagreement caused tension within the family for weeks. The decision Natalie made to go to Cal caused a lot of anger within the Coughlin family.
Another big decision in Natalie's life was not made by herself. It was made by Haley Cope, her good friend and teammate. Haley decided to switch schools because she didn't like Teri Mckeever as a coach. Natalie was devastated, and was quoted saying "I need her" (99). The loss of Cope affected Natalie at practices, because she was a great person to race against. It also hurt the friendship between the two girls, because it felt to Natalie as if Cope was betraying her. It shows how much decisions can affect people.
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7 comments:
I think it's a unique observation to make that your decisions affect other people, especially when discussing an autobiography. You usually wouldn't think about it, since an autobiography concentrates on one central figure. The example of where to go to college especially struck me because as highschoolers, those decisions are becoming more and more important to us. And closer in the future.
I agree with you on how your actions can impact many people. It is amazing to me that little decisions to one person, can mean the world to another. When Haley leaves Cal, I'm sure she thought it was just something she wanted to do. Little did she know that her decision to leave would be so hard on Natalie. Similar to what Lida said, I was also interested in the decisions about college. Even being sophmores, we feel so much pressure about college and "picking the one that is best for us." I think when chosing a college we should firstly think about ourselves, but remember to think about the impacts your decision will have on others. You should go where you want to go, but maybe when you look at the impacts it will change where you want to go.
Andrea- Your book sounds really interesting. It's interesting that in the autobiography it also focuses on other characters such as her coach, family and friends. That is interesting that Natalie's friend Haley switched schools because of the coach. I'm guessing Natalie liked the coach because she stayed which is interesting. Also, the college situation is interesting and is probably the situation of a lot of families with children deciding on schools.
I really like your theme that you picked up and the reasons that you blogged about it. I just don't understand why it took so long for the college debate to finally settle! I mean, yes they are your kid but you should want what's best for them and support what they want, not live your life through them. Great blog.
You picked great quotes to show how much Natalie needed her friend and her fight over college. I think having Natalie's friend leave might help her because she will have to work that much harder to beat her and now the coach will be able to focus all his attention on Natalie. Good job keep up the good work.
Nice job finding themes. It also fits in with our new theme of ethical choices that affect society and in Natalie's case, her family and the people around her. I got really into watching swimming during the Olympics and I think this would be a good book to read.
I agree with you on how ones decisions can impact others. It is amazing to me that little decisions to one person, can mean the world to another. When Haley leaves Cal, it had a great impact on Natalie while Haley didn't think much about it. Similar to what Lida said, I was also interested in the decisions about college. Even being sophmores, we feel so much pressure about college and getting good grades to have the school of our choice. I think when chosing a college we should firstly think about ourselves, but remember to think about the impacts your decision will have on others.
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