SWIM

Learning to kick

Making a list of my talents (aka folk knowledge) was easy. I mean, ever since we entered grade school we’ve been asked to provide a list of our hobbies/talents/pastimes so that our classmates can “get to know us.”

• play volleyball
• swim
• play piano
• ride a pogo stick
• jump rope
• skate on a waveboard
  (The list just gets more desperate from there. Haha)
  

The thing about folk knowledge is that it’s only valuable to those who find it interesting, entertaining or useful. Not many people want to ride a pogo stick, but many find it useful to play the piano. So, I narrowed down my list to the most useful skills (in my opinion) and began to search for someone who desired to learn. Aaron, a close friend of mine, told me that he would love to learn to swim and I took him up on it.

Struggling to breathe correctly

I learned to swim when I was very young. I don’t remember when swimming didn’t come naturally! So, I was a little confused when he got tripped up on things that were second nature to me. I think that the most difficult part was teaching him the very basics of breathing, floating, etc.

Teaching the strokes

After teaching some simple basics, I got to teach him the strokes. That was a lot easier since my first exposure to many of the main strokes was in high school. I could still remember how I was taught and managed to pass that down to Aaron. We learned the kicks first and then how to move the arms. After “perfecting” the moves, we put them together. His favorite was the butterfly stroke, probably because you have to put your whole effort into it to make it work and he loves pushing himself to his limits. In order to be a good receiver of folk knowledge, you have to be willing to give it your best.

Aaron trying out the Butterfly

The folk knowledge we acquire becomes part of who we are. We often classify people according to their skills. My friend Aaron is a runner. I’m a swimmer. Dr. Burton’s neighbor is a bunny whisperer. My roommate Evan is a hockey player. These labels affect our opinion of someone. We hold people with rare, unique or difficult skills in high esteem. For that reason, it’s important that we obtain as much folk knowledge as possible. If you admire someone for their talents, ask them to teach you! Remember that even the most talented people had to start from somewhere.