As an avid competitive swimmer, sophomore Mag Greer saw swimming as a way to work through stress. 

Starting in the third grade, Greer chose to dedicate herself to swimming after her school’s swim team needed more members. By this time, she had already tried her hand at tennis, ice skating, and soccer. “I absolutely loved [swimming], even though I was terrible at it,” Greer said, “but I really liked it. It was the one thing that I came back to when I was like, I want to do that again.”

After working towards this goal for more than a year, Greer said one of her proudest accomplishments is being able to finish the 100-meter freestyle in under a minute. “When I finally hit it, I freaked out,” Greer said. “I had actually managed it and I was like, this is fantastic.”

Because of COVID-19, Greer hasn’t been able to swim as much as she would like, which she said has been harmful to her mental health, but she is hopeful to get back into the water. 

Because she hasn’t been able to swim as much during the pandemic, Greer has turned to reading as an escape from the stress the pandemic has brought her. “I know [reading] is a very rare hobby these days,” Greer said. 

Greer is taking Drama I this year, conquering her stage fright and fear of public speaking. In hopes of overcoming these fears, she is also taking Morning Choir. 

Another class Greer is taking this year is Honors Algebra II/Trigonometry. “It annoys me to no end, but it is fun to be in the math class I’m in,” Greer said. Although the subject has presented Greer with some challenges, she attributes her enjoyment of the math class to her teacher, Mr. Swanson. “He makes class and math fun,” Greer said.

Greer has struggled to stay focused with schoolwork, but said that her mother has been helpful in keeping her on track. “I’ve kind of done this thing [where] I escape into things,” Greer said. “I kind of did the same thing with my grades. I just kind of stopped paying attention and stopped looking at them because it was very stressful for me.” 

“It was just this kind of cycle until my mom [helped],” Greer said. 

Currently, Greer is interested in pursuing a career in medicine, but she is also considering following in her mother’s footsteps as a teacher. “She goes through so much on a daily basis just because of her job, and she does it all without going insane which I find impressive because [in] most of these situations, I can see myself completely just losing it,” Greer said, accrediting her mother as one of her greatest role models.