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"No pain, no gain. The pain you feel now is the strength you will receive tomorrow," I recited the words my swim coach once told me, to myself. I gently caressed my trophy that I had clinched successfully last month, at the Annual Swimming Competition that took place at my swim school. I sighed, my heart filling with content as I replayed the moment when I received my trophy from the Guest Of Honor in my head. I could still hear the faint sound of my friends cheering and chanting my name and feel tears of joy running down my cheeks. It all started on an ordinary day, at my swim school...
I was on my way to swimming practice when my swim coach, Coach Percy, came up to me.“There is an Annual Swimming Competition taking place here at our school.Are you  interested in joining?” He asked earnestly. I stammered, unsure of what to stay as my thoughts multiplied like a virulent virus. Looking at my bewildered face, Coach Percy chuckled and casually showed me my fastest timings recorded in a book. A faraway smile stretched across my face as I skimmed through my timings. “Sure, I will give it a try,” I blurted out without a second thought as if my tongue had a brain of its own.
The following few weeks before the competition passed by in a blur. Since I only had about a month left before the competition, I had to train at least four times a week, and after each practice, my limbs felt like jelly. I occasionally moaned and groaned about how rigorous training was to my parents, but all they said was that it was for my own good and I would learn to appreciate all my hard work later. Reluctantly, I braced myself for another week of arduous training before the competition.  I trained and trained and trained. Even when it was raining, Coach Percy dragged me to the gym to increase my muscle strength. Basically, Coach Percy showed no mercy on me at training.After what felt like an eternity, the day of the competition arrived.
I made my way to the waiting area before the competition commenced. While waiting, I did some basic stretching to warm up my muscles before I dived into the water. Minutes passed, and the competitors for the 100--metre freestyle race were called to assemble in front of the pool. I walked to the pool nervously, my palms wet with sweat and my heart was palpitating at such a rate that it felt as though would burst out of my ribs any minute.  I looked left and right. My competitors were ranged from small and petite to big and burly. Even before I could adjust my goggles, the announcer screeched on her microphone,"On your marks, get set, go!" And I dived into the cold water.
My legs kicked as fast as they could, my arms pushing back the water away from me and bringing me forward. I came up for air here and there, and as I did I could see one or two of my competitors nearing me.I reached the end, did a somersault and swam back to the starting point. "Go faster," my brain demanded my hands and legs, as I kicked and paddled like there was no tomorrow. To swim faster, I imagined I was being chased by a great white. The lactic acid forming in my muscles caused my body to ache all over, but I did not slow down. I surged forward and reached the finishing point! I looked back to check if I was the first. To my disbelief, the other competitors had reached the finishing point after me. This meant I was the first!  I was high on ecstasy and I could hear my mother screaming 'THAT'S MY GIRL!'
When I came out of the pool, I was attacked by my friends and relatives who hugged and praised me for my triumph.I thanked Coach Percy profusely for pushing me beyond my limits and helping me learn the true meaning of the phrase 'No pain, no gain'. Therefore I agree to a huge extent that nothing in life can be achieved without hard work and suffering, and this phrase seems to deliver my message.

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"Why Mom?" I asked my mother.

Ever since my second year in primary school, I absolutely despised Chinese as a subject. I would not touch that subject with a ten-foot pole. Every single Chinese lesson, I would either drift away or I would discuss with my friend next to me about the latest video games coming out that year. When I got solid D's for my Chinese every year, I would not even care about it as my other subjects were good enough.

However, my lackluster behaviour towards the subject caught my mother’s attention. She went straight for me and swiped my cellphone out of my hands. At first, my blood boiled when she took away my birthday present she gave me five years ago, my cellphone. I sprung up and started yelling at her, "What are you doing? I did not do anything wrong, Mom! You always told me to do everything!" My mother started to scream.  I knew I took it way too far, "How dare you bring that out of your large mouth? You are not doing anything good for yourself! The PSLE is coming, Dean!" At that very moment, I was not able to reach for my cellphone for the rest of my December holidays after my Primary 5 year, and I could not go anywhere.

Every day seemed stale as I was not able to talk to my friends whether it was through online or offline communications. I thought to myself, "What could I do?" I knew the following year was my Primary School Leaving Examination year and I had to do well to move on. Then I finally thought, "Okay. I may not like this in any sort of way possible, but the time is very crucial and short, it is not too late to start now." Every day, I would try to recap as much as I could on what I was taught the previous year, especially Chinese. I kept on keeping the positive attitude throughout the process turning from a couch potato to a rather hardworking individual. During my final year in primary school, I realised that in my first mini-test, my results began to show signs of improvement. I kept up my efforts throughout. While I could not use my favourite gadgets, against all odds, I was able to push forward on my efforts.

This amount of effort paid off that during my PSLE, I put what I had in mind to complete the test. Three weeks later, the results came and I stood rooted to the ground as I would soon receive my results. However, when I got it, my jaws dropped because of the grade I got for Chinese. Next to it was the letter 'B' .To me, from getting rather poor results to getting a good grade on the subject I had been abysmal in for years was the most satisfying moment I ever had. I knew that due to me sacrificing the distractions I depended on and my sheer hard work, I managed to do what it took to achieve something that I would never thought was a possibility.

Sometimes, we may have something that we do not want to give up. However, we also know that it could affect what we would do in a long term. I took the 'pain' to deal with my life without my cellphone, then I got to the school I aimed to go to. Besides, what is more satisfying than pulling off the unthinkable?

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I could still vividly remember of a lesson I learnt when I was barely ten. It had struck deep in my bones and remained etched in my mind like a scar that refused to fade. It was ‘no pain, no gain.’ Pain and suffering was necessary in order to achieve things. I had not properly understood the depth of that phrase until I experienced it for myself.

I attempted to stretch my legs even further for the umpteenth time but it was to no avail. Sharp pain shot up my thigh. Sweat trickled down my forehead into my eyes but even then, the determination in my heart did not falter. Grunts and moans of pain slipped out of everyone’s mouths as our instructor, Mrs Tan, took her time to count down the seconds we needed to stay in that excruciating position. At that point, I felt as if everyone except me was shooting daggers of hate at our instructor. A smirk danced on my instructor’s perfectly moisturised lips as she savoured our pain.

However, in contrast, I did not mind the pain. There was only one goal in my mind and that was to secure the first prize of the annual Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship. The first place would be granted five hundred dollars! In addition, they would get front-seat tickets to watch all the worldwide famous professional gymnasts execute powerful yet flawless moves with absolute precision and grace.

“Push yourself just a little bit more and you will be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams.”
That was a piece of advice my instructor had given me. I had made it my personal mantra that I repeated to myself everyday to boost my determination and resilience. Soon, that same determination and resilience helped overcome the pain of my over-strained muscles.

“Okay class dismissed. Those who would like to stay back a little longer you may do so,” Mrs Tan announced, her clear voice echoing throughout the hall. I huffed as the fatigue began to kick in.

As the months passed by, the championship grew closer and closer. I stayed back almost everyday just to practise and go over my routine once again. Mrs Tan was ever willing to give me encouragement and tips on how I could better control my limbs and muscles. When I went back home, I practised even more, feeling insatiable hunger to improve myself even more. Through the blood, sweat and tears, I had finally achieved near perfection. I was ready.

Finally, the long-awaited day had come. Thoughts raced through my head and dramatic scenes of my failure flashed before my eyes. I licked my dry lips and gulped, trepidation running through my veins. However, there were other things that were more crucial than that.  i thought about all the work, time and energy i had spent just working towards this day. I thought about all the times Mrs Tan had took the effort to scrutinise my moves and stay back with me to practise. Most importantly, i thought about my initial goal. I was going to win that first prize and see my favourite gymnasts!

When the time came for me to perform in front of stony-faced judges, i took a deep breath, did a quick check of my equipment, plastered a vibrant smile on my face, and stepped into the limelight.

With my utmost concentration and those months of training, i executed all my moves flawlessly, confidence radiating off me in waves. As soon as my performance had ended, there was a standing ovation for me! I beamed with delight and bowed humbly.

When all the participants had finished performing, the time had finally come for the winner to be announced.

“And the first prize of the Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship goes to…” the host boomed, waiting for the champion’s name to pop up on the gigantic screen in the middle of the stadium. Just as the name popped up on the screen, he announced the winner.

It was me! I had won the first prize! A huge roar of applause arose from the audience and in that moment, I was on cloud nine. I could not have been any happier.

The experience I got from that time was really priceless. It is an experience that i hold very close to my heart because it taught me the true meaning of ‘no pain, no gain’.

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No pain, no gain. This is one of the most important things I have learnt in my life. I learnt this lesson the hard way. The incident happened when I was in Primary 5.

The mid-year examinations had just finished. I was anxious about my results as I had barely studied and had difficulties in completing my papers. I was even sure I was going to fail certain exams. Instead of studying, I sat at my computer, playing games till night time. When my parents asked me to study for the examinations, I just brushed them off and said I would do it soon. But that soon never came. I kept on procrastinating when it was time to do my work. I felt regret but still did not do anything. “It’s too late to do anything” I told myself. When the results came, I had never felt so disappointed in my life. I could not bring myself to accept my results. I had done so terribly! It was the first time I had ever failed an exam. I spent the whole time wondering what my parents would say when I got home, completely zoning out in class.

When I returned home, I told my parents my results. Although they were extremely disappointed in me, they did not scold me. They just told me that I would have to work a lot harder for the end of year exams. After seeing how disappointed they were in me, I decided to change the way I did things. The mid-year exam results was a wake up call to me. Only then did I realise how badly my actions would affect others.

A few months had passed since the mid-year examinations. There was one month left till the end-of-year examinations would begin. I started to revise my work and further reduce my time spent on games. After the mid-year exams, I decided to only spend 1 and a half hours playing games. Now, I only spent half and hour relaxing. I had strongly cut down on my relaxation time. Sometimes, I felt like giving up and wanted to play. But I stopped myself from being tempted by locking myself in a room with only my school books for revision. I would not let myself go out until I had finished all that I wanted to finish for the day. Although it was extremely painful to give up my games to study, I knew that my efforts would not be wasted as my parents always told me, “ You will reap what you sow”.

Finally, the end-of-year examinations had arrived. I was able to breeze through all the exams without encountering difficulties. I was surprised at how easy the questions had seemed compared to the mid-year exams. It was then I realised that it was because of the effort I had put in to study that I was able to complete the papers easily. When the results came, I was filled with anticipation for my results. On the one hand, I was confident that I had done well. One the other hand, I was worried that I would fail. I did not want to disappoint them again. I was full of guilt after the mid-year exams. I did not want the same thing to happen again.

Unfortunately, I had done well for all my subjects, even managing an average of 85. I was so delighted that my parents would not be disappointed in me again. When my parents heard of my results, they were ecstatic. They told me that as long as i put in effort, I would definitely do well. They then told me, “ No pain, no gain.” Since then, this phrase has been stuck in my head. This was the one incident in which I learnt the phrase “No pain, no gain”.

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The biannual most competitive and vigorous competition was here. With shaking hands, I nervously registered the fact that I was part of the twelve-member team for the Inter-unit Drill Competition which is a prestigious National Police Cadet Corps competition with schools from all over Singapore joining.
As that was my first time taking part in such a major competition, I had no idea what was going to happen.
On the very first training, the instructor in charge of training our squad made us march under the scorching sun for many hours straight with only a few breaks in between. That evening when I reached home, I collapsed on the floor. My legs felt numb and my whole face was drenched with sweat, I did not know training was this standard!
For the subsequent trainings, it got harder and more tiring, as the instructors had sky high expectations for us. Occasionally, I felt like quitting the team as the almost daily trainings disrupted my regular schedule causing me to miss many of my tution classes. On top of that, the trainings phiscally drained my energy to the extent that I slept in class, affecting my studies.
However, I pushed on, with words of encouragement from my squadmates. After all, they were going through the same thing as me.
Finally, the day of the competition arrived. Will our hard work pay off? I nervously asked myself before entering the competition grounds.
A few minutes later, I left the grounds with eyes filled with tears of joy. Our drill sequence went without a hitch and in fact, looked really professional and synchronised in the recorded video.
However , that happiness was nothing compared to when we heard that we were placed top ten in the hundred and thirty competing schools and was going for the semifinals.
There is a saying that goes

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‘No pain no gain’ . I didn’t know what it really meant until last year when I failed my chemistry during the mid year examination.

It is the first exam of my secondary 3 life apart from tests and quizzes . From the start of the year I did not understand the concept of chemistry well.  I did not do anything about it and it was reflected in my results during the test. But I was complacent and  told myself that I am able to pass . When the papers were returned I was aghast I failed my chemistry it was a F9.

After that incident I told myself that I had to work hard to pass umy chemistry. The few months that I had before the end of year examination I pulled up my socks and I did  lots of past year exam papers, assessment book for chemistry. I also asked friends to helped teach me the different concept for chemistry and they helped to rectify the mistakes I made. I spend hours after hours just memorizing the order of where the position the elements are supposed to be in. There were times that I feel that I want to give up and just drop the subject but there was that part of me that wanted to pass and show the teachers what i was capable of. By the time I got to the end of year exam I knew the concept of chemistry quite well. This was it the end of year exam.

When the papers were returned I was overjoyed I finally pass my chemistry From a F9 to a C6. It’s a huge improvement. This made me realize what no pain no gain really meant.

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Anything that we get in life without pain is not real success and it usually does not last long. Great men have shown us that the path to success is painful but always promising. This is similar to the saying, 'No pain, no gain.'
I found this maxim to be true during my secondary three end of year examination period. 'You don't even need to practice for oral lah, you can pass with flying colours', my friend sneered to me during the announcement of the Mother Tongue oral examination dates. True to his word, I was an ace in my Higher Tamil oral examinations. I did not even need to practise for my orals as my Mother Tongue language came fluently to me. I thought I was a natural. However, little did I know that I was wrong until that very day.
I stepped into the hall for my Mother Tongue oral conceited. Brimming with confidence, I didn't even practise during my waiting period and just skimmed through the pages of my Tamil oral book. When my turn came, I strode to the invigilators having high hopes that I will ace my oral once again.
'Whenever you are ready, please begin', my oral invigilator instructed me. As I began reading the passage given, I found many words which perplexed me. There were few words which I stammered out and my ending and middle consonants were inaccurately pronounced. All in all, I didn't have a flow in my reading. My spoken interaction part was far more horrendous. The topic was about terrorism in nations, on which I was supposed to give a speech for two minutes. I was bewildered. How was I supposed to know about terrorism? I never read newspapers or even listened to news channels. What was I supposed to say? Trillions of questions popped in my brain but none of them helped to start my two-minute speech. Using the general knowledge I gained from the emergency awareness programme held during last week's Thursday assembly, I managed to finish my speech. I was repeating the same old points over and over again while digging my brains for the information that I would not have. As if this was not enough to gauge my oral abilities, there was another part where the invigilators would ask questions about the content in our speech. This part made me lose all my confidence that was left as I struggled to answer them. After what felt like eternity, my oral exam ended. I could see disappointment etched on my invigilators faces.
Just like how mirror reflect what they see, my marks reflected the amount of effort I put in. I was overwhelmed with devastation. My mark was in borderline. Tears sluiced down my face, washing away my pride. How could this happen?
Out of the blue, I heard my  Tamil language teacher praising one of the students. 'Congratulations, Mathi. You did very well for your oral examination. Your effort paid off. 'I’m very proud of you.' I gaped at Mathi in stupefaction. She was one of the weaker students in oral who barely passes her Tamil language examinations. Now she did her orals way better than me. I felt utter dejection that I lost to someone who was once weaker than me in oral just because she put in more effort than anyone. She hapractised her reading and conversation skills everyday without getting tired of it. Whenever she got time she clarified her doubts with teachers. She sacrificed her time and went through the pain to get what she wants. Even though its hard for me to admit it. She deserved her marks.
At that precise moment it hit me that talent is gone to waste, when we do not put in effort to improve it. No matter who you are or what talent you have it doesn't matter. What really matters is, whether you go a extra mile to gain what you want. After all 'No pain, no gain'.

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The phrase 'No pain, no gain' gave me so many memories.

I remembered hitting rock-bottom for my academically during my Secondary 2 year.  At that time, I was very obsessed with my academic results so I was really devastated when I found out that I had failed Geography and Chinese. To add salt to the wound, my other subjects were at borderline passing grades.

I found it really vexatious that no matter how hard I worked, I would not be able to achieve my goals. I remembered confiding to my parents for help.

They told me " When you hit rock-bottom, there is only one way to go- up. You have to work your way up again. When there is no pain, there will be no gain. " Their words did not really help in comforting me. At that time, I had no choice but to be strong and I told myself that everything would be alright. I was rather ridiculous at that time as I saw my academic results as a matter of 'Life and death'.

I wanted to enter the class that has my ideal subject combination which included the Pure sciences.

I had to live up to my parents' and my own expectations.

As weeks passed by, I gradually got over my failures and I started working very hard. But it was like 🤬 to me. 🤬. I could not catch up with my teachers' teaching at bullet train speed. However, whenever I faced any diffculty, I would approach my teachers for help.

I could not forget the days when I struggled very hard trying to understand Chemistry- forming chemical equations. When the examinations were around the corner, I worked even harder and quitted playing my favourite mobile game. I was very determined to get into the science stream.

The day our exam results came out, I found out that my science results were not good enough to enter the pure science stream. My parents had to write an appeal letter to the principal. I was fortunate enough to have success in my appeal to the science stream. A part of me doubted that I would be able to do well in science as I was only lucky enough to have my appeal letter approved.  Another part of me argued that the reason I was able to enter the science stream with my appeal was that I worked hard. The phrase '' No pain, no gain.'" meant so much to me now. I could not forget the struggles I had gone through. This incident would be etched in my mind, forever.

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I kept getting asked the same question, "Why can't you be as smart as your brother?" by my relatives, and l often took it in and never said a word. The majority of my subjects were failing and I never did anything about them as I just accepted the fact that I would never be as good as my brother. The comments kept getting worse and then came a time when I could not take it anymore.

"Can't you at least pass your examinations? Why do you keep failing?" My mother asked me as I stared at my handphone screen, scrolling through instagram. She constantly nagged at me for not passing and I could see my brother in the corner of my eye with an arrogant look on his face. I sighed internally as I put my phone down and headed to my study table without saying a word to my mother who stood there glaring at me. I then took out my textbooks and sternly told myself, "Come on, I can pass my examinations and prove all of you wrong."

It was around three o'clock in the afternoon when I took out my textbooks. It felt like I was sitting at my desk for ages and i was not even finished with the first chapter of my science textbook. I leaned back against my chair and checked the time again. It was already six o'clock in the evening. However I knew that if I really wanted to do well, I had to put in a lot of effort whether I liked it or not.

The following day, my teacher announced that there would be a science test the next week and i was beyond excited to be able to finally have the chance to prove to everyone that I could be as good as my brother. I went home and studied as hard as I could, staying up till midnight every day to study for that one test.

The day of the test arrived and I was confident that I would do well and pass with flying colours but little did I know that my efforts would go down the drain. When our results came back, I had received a C grade, which meant I had only just passed and I did not manage to do as well as I had hoped. I wiped away the tear that was rolling down my face as I questioned myself, "Is all this effort really worth it? Shouldn't I just give up?"

The urge to give up was very strong but I knew that if I ever wanted to succeed, I could not give up. I continued to study for hours daily for the next five months before the end-of-year examinations. At that time, my brother being his callous self would tell me, "Why are you even trying so hard? You will never be able to beat me." and laugh at how pathetic I looked trying to study while his As were all handed to him on a silver plate because of his intelligence level. I really detested my brother who made me feel useless but i decided to delete those poisonous words from my brain and focus on what was important.

The day finally came for my end-of-year examinations. My stomach was filled with butterflies as my whole body was shaking from nervousness. With a bit of hope left in me, I finished off my examinations thinking of my goal and how much I wanted to reach it. After it was over, I reminded myself that even if I did not manage to get what I really desired, I would still be pleased with whatever result that I got. As long as I had improved.

When the day came to receive our results, I was sitting on my chair and staring at my paper. I was at a loss for words. I had gotten an A! I finally did it and I was ecstatic. I proudly made my way home and showed my paper to my family members who were as shocked as I was. For once my brother had nothing to say and my mother was praising me for doing well instad of constantly nagging at me.

I had never felt so motivated to do well before so from then on I carried on studying every day for every subject and I slowly became better and better. After that, people stopped comparing me to my brother.

From then on, I will always remember the quote, "no pain, no gain".

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" Why can't you achieve good results like your sister ? " , my mother constantly nagged. I felt hurt and I ignored her. Similarly , my relatives always compared me and my sister. They felt that my sister would succeed in the future while I would not. I grimaced in pain and accepted the fact that I'm not as smart as a whip like my sister. Pain. Suffering. No one wants to experience these. However , we need to go through these in order for us to strive for our goals.

In primary school , I was a very playful girl. I did not take my studies seriously as I did not know the importance of getting good results and not being able to get into the stream that I wished to. When I got back my mid-year examination results , I felt dejected. It was below my expectations. I wanted to give up. Negative thoughts were running through my mind. I felt that I would never succeed , I would never be the nurse that I always dreamt to be. My mother was so disappointed in me. She admonished me so terribly that tears started flowing like a river. After coming to my senses , I realised that I only had 4 months left to my Primary School Leaving Examination. I promised myself that this would be the last time that my mother would reprimand me and look down on me for not studying hard enough. I would prove to my mother and my relatives that I would be comparable with my sister.

From that day on , I studied very hard. I did my revision everyday even if I had other school activities on that day , I still set aside some time to do my revision and school homework. I did many exam papers from other schools. Some days I was extremely lethargic but despite that , I still persevered and completed my task on that day. I sacrificed my sleep that I usually had only 3 hours of sleep. Sometimes , I even burnt the midnight oil and stayed up the whole night just to catch up with my studies that I had been procrastinating on. During weekends , most of my friends were out having fun and many were glued to their phones but instead I was studying very hard. I had a huge pile of books to complete before my Primary School Leaving Examination. All I did everyday was study until I forgot to have my meals or even deliberately skipped my meals so that I could finish my revision and school homework on time. My friends asked me out occasionally but I rejected them. I knew that my priority then was to study so that I could achieve relatively good grades and my mother would finally stop comparing me and sister.

In the blink of an eye , it was my first Primary School Leaving Examination paper. I was very nervous. My hands were trembling. The usual cold palms of mine , were filled with heat and sweat. " What if I do not do well ? What if I make a mistake ? " I mumbled to myself. I calmed myself down and told myself that I could do it. Even if I failed , it was not the end of the world. Fortunately , time flew so quickly. I finished my Primary School Leaving Examination papers. I heaved a sigh of relief.

However , the thought of getting back my results , made me so worried. I could not sleep the night before the release of my Primary School Leaving Examination results. I had a terrible nightmare. I saw flashes of red on my result slip. I saw my teacher's disappointed face when she passed me my result slip. Terrified , I woke up. " It was such a frightening dream... but what if this really came true ? " I said to myself. I ignored those thoughts and went back to sleep. Unknowingly , it was the time for me to collect my results. I kept biting my lips. My mind was filled with darkness. Beads of perspiration trickled down my face. I was so nervous that I kept looking at my watch , hoping that time would slow down for once. " Janaine ! " my form teacher , Madam Lim said. I took my result slip and I was so scared to look at my results. I looked through my result slip from top to bottom very slowly. Seeing my mathematics getting an A , I was elated. I began to gain confidence and continued looking at the rest of my results at a faster speed as I could not wait to see the rest of my results. Upon seeing my aggregate score , I grinned from ear to ear. " I finally did it ! " I exclaimed. I told my mother the good news and she was very proud of me.

" No pain , no gain " I indeed believe in this saying. From this experience , I learnt that without hard work , I would not be able to acheive my goals. I will not forget the pain that I had been through to achieve the results on my result slip. This would definitely be etched in my mind for a long time to come.

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Pain is something no one would ever want to experience. However, without pain, no one would ever gain any experience or learn anything in general. The phrase ‘no pain no gain’ is known by many, however ironically, most of us also do not understand the real meaning of it, one of them being me.

"Go faster ! Faster ! “ Coach screamed into my ear. It’s felt like my ear drums were about to explode from the loud booming of his voice. I could be relaxing at home now, preferably using my phone and getting onto social media. But there I was, suffering under the wrath of my strict coach. I simply could not understand why I was tortured this way, even during the holidays. It felt like I didn’t even have some ‘me time’ anymore. Waking up in ungodly hours of the morning was starting to seem dreadful and I was not looking forward to it at all. A huge meet was coming up in the upcoming week and my coach was getting even more anxious by the minute. He would get into a mood whenever we did mistakes, even the small ones, and it was stressing all the swimmers out with him pressurizing us everyday in the pool. I let out a huge sigh. Is this even called a holiday anymore ?

Every day, I would go down to the swimming pool by the community club near my house to swim laps in order to maximize my improvement during the week. Rain or shine, I would go down to the pool or the gym to work out so as not not waste the precious few days I have to the competition. With my sore arms and legs, I would drag myself everyday to work out so that I would have maximum performance on the day of the meet. I had tried to give up numerous times and just relax before the meet. However, I persevered throughout all the temptations that I had and pulled through in the end. It was hard, but I managed to do it. Finally, after a week of torturous training under the wrath of my coach, the day we all had been preparing for had come. The smell of chlorine wafted to my nose as I stepped into the competition arena. The energetic atmosphere energized me as I tested the temperature of the water. It was cold and my nerves rised up and spread like fire throughout my body while I watch—while I wait. All those butterflies that never fails to come every competition I go to clash and crowd in my stomach. As I walked to the reporting area, my body shakes and screams from all the tensions that I had, looking at all the great swimmers around me. My heart pounded , nerves tingled and my every muscle contracted with fear. Even though I had gone to many competitions already, I still feared that I would mess up during the swim. However, I calmed my pounding heart, took a deep breath and got ready for the fast swim I was about to have.

Shaking off the fear and tensions that I had, I stood up on the plunging board. It was time.

"Take your marks...” the starter said.

My heart pounded in my chest, I thought everyone could hear it. All the contestants tensed up upon the command, ready to leave the block as fast as they could and sprint to the wall.

"BEEP” the signal for take off sounded.

We all plunged into the pool. Kicking as hard as I could, I surfaced out of the water quickly, gaining speeed. Throwing my arms forward, I gave my all and sprinted away. I pulled my arms as hard as I could, trying to reach my maximum speed so as to have a higher chance of winnning. As I reached closer and closer to the wall, I was wearing out and starting to get tired. However, I pressed on and instead, pulled and kicked harder, driving my limbs to its limits.

After what seemed like forever, I touched the wall. Everything seemed like it was in slow motion as I turned to see what my timing was. I touched the wall first ! All my hard work had payed off ! I looked at my position in disbelief and was grinning like a Cheshire Cat. I was first ! My cheeks hurt from smiling so hard. Soon, I stepped onto the podium to collect my medal. Filled with happiness, I looked at the shiny medal in my hands. In that moment, I finally understood what ‘ no pain no gain ‘ meant. Without putting in effort, success is hard to achieve. However, when we put on the necessary efforts, they will finally pay off in the end.

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‘No!’ I bawled as Ryan crossed the line. finishing second in the 100-metre sprint behind one of the fastest runners in my level was soul-crushing. why could I not have run faster! I felt downcast as I sat at the grandstand. This could have been my moment to shine and yet I threw it away. As I continued to feel down, my classmate, Michael , came by to talk to me. ‘Why are you feeling so down? you did well to be that close to Ryan at the end.’ he said, ‘I just wanted to beat him but could not do it.’ ‘Well there is no use crying over spilled milk, just work at it, you will beat him eventually, remember every cloud has a silver lining.’ I felt a veil lift off my head, realising what I had to do. I made a promise to myself to beat Ryan the next year, whatever the cost.

With that, I started my training plan, to run 150 metres a day every single day. For the first week, the experience was mundane and hellish. I could maintain a steady pace throughout the entire run, slowing down and even stopping and walking the rest of the way there. But I knew that my hard work would pay off eventually and that was exactly what happened. With every passing week, I was lasting longer and running faster. At the end of it all I could do the run 10 seconds faster than what I could do at the start of my training plan. I felt more confident and was full of joy to see the improvement I had made over the year. Yet, I knew that my training was pointless if I could not beat Ryan in the sprint.

The day of the 100m sprint came, the day I had been preparing for the past year. I felt extremely nervous before the race started. could I do it against Ryan, who would have likely been training at a higher level than I did? I got ready for the race and prepared to run as fast as I could.

The siren went off and the runners and I launched off from our starting points. I had good starting momentum but Ryan had the best out of all of us. I started to get worried that my race was over, however I started to catch up massively to Ryan at the last quarter of the run. We were neck and neck as we neared the finish line at incredible speed. I used to last ounce of my strength to push my legs even harder and was able to edge out Ryan as we crossed the finish line. Cheers echoed through the stadium for what had been a exciting race and one that I would remember for the rest of my life.

From that moment, I had learned that effort was crucial to be able to overcome any challenge. truly the saying ‘No Pain, No Gain’ was true.