In this TedTalk, Diana Nyad speaks to the public about her incredible journey; she swam 100 miles from Cuba to Florida at the age of 64. She is the first person ever to have made this swim, which is incredibly impressive. This had been Diana’s dream for a very long time, and it is amazing that she never gave up and worked until she accomplished this task, especially at her age. I love TedTalks in general, and this one was no exception. I found Diana’s speech to be very inspirational. Though I have no desire to even swim 1 mile (much less 100), I think her message is applicable to anyone who has a dream or a goal they want to achieve. I do not necessarily have a dream that I have been striving towards for years, but I have always wanted to become fluent in french. After five years of studying the language, I have definitely had my doubts about whether or not this goal could possibly be achieved. However, I know that as long as I keep trying, and make efforts to find new people to converse with and new vocabulary words to learn, I can achieve this goal – most likely before I am the age of 64! I am hoping to someday live in a french speaking country and become bilingual.
I think that Diana’s story is incredible. My favorite parts of her speech were the quotations she incorporated – especially the one from Socrates: “To be is to do”. This one line seems extremely simple and obvious – in order to be something or someone, you have to do what is required of that position or status. However, I think many people go through life thinking that they can just fake their way to their goal without actually having to work. This talk has impacted me by opening my eyes to this and reminding me that with big dreams comes big effort.
Here is the Diana Nyad’s Ted Talk! Make sure to microSCOPE it out! (ba doom tsss) http://www.ted.com/talks/diana_nyad_never_ever_give_up#t-800271
Works Cited:
Feydey. “File:Open Book Nae French Flag.png.” Wikimedia Commons, 7 Oct. 2011. Web. <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Open_book_nae_French_flag.png>.
MicroSCOPE It Out 
Marissa, I didn’t know about your passion for French. What an excellent goal! Getting the opportunity to live in a French speaking country would be amazing and help you realize your goal of fluency. Your post is very well written. This entire year, I have experienced you “doing” and never giving up. You continue to impress me with your determination to learn content and design excellent projects. I will never forget your photosynthesis DQ. Such an out of the box question that was absolutely fascinating.
To improve the look of your post…embed the actual youtube video into your page so that it is a box someone can click on and watch the video. This will be more visually engaging. Let me know if you need technical help with this. Also, please reach out to your formal commenter asap and make sure they know to respond to this post 🙂
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Marissa, I found your comment interesting. I too love the French language and, as you know, studied French for a long time. My reason was the same as yours, I always wanted to live in France. I love the culture. I have given up that dream as life seemed to move me in a different direction but, after reading your blog, I think perhaps I should not give it up. If this woman, at age 64 can swim that distance under dangerous conditions, there is no reason that I could not, someday live in France. Perhaps we will be there together one day. Some days I feel washed up at 53, but not today. Not after reading about Diana Nyad. Thanks for the inspiration.
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I just love TedTalks! I watched this TedTalk with my husband, Rick (who admittedly fell asleep on the couch) and enjoyed it. I too found this to be very inspiring. I love your reflection on it – I just know you will reach your goal and become fluent in French some day! Good luck Girlie! Amy
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