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Jenna Haas
English 101H CRN 14084
Professor McKeever
September 13, 2015
Word Count: 508
Bay Village: A Supportive Place
Home is a place people to feel safe and supported. The city the home is located in
typically extends the home environment. The city of Bay Village is an example of a city that does
just that. The city of Bay Village is often referred to as the bay bubble due to having a low
crime rate and a good police and fire department. Bay is peaceful and verdant. The village
provides great education in its blue ribbon schools and offers a variety of recreational activities.
In my view, the most important aspect of living in Bay Village is the community support.
The most recent example of community support that I experienced was at a swim meet
during my senior year. On that night, I was chosen to compete in an event that I had wanted to
ever since I joined the swim team in my sophomore year. The event was the 500 yard freestyle
consisted of swimming 20 laps nonstop. All throughout the years, I was the slowest swimmer on
the team due to my cerebral palsy. So, before the race, I was feeling as I did when I entered
college, a mixture of nervousness and excitement.
While I was swimming, I was only thinking of the technical aspects of the swim. I did not
know the extent of the onlookers emotional engagement in my swim until I emerged from the
pool. The audience had been cheering me on for several laps. Emotionally they were propelling
me; there was not a dry eye in the aquatic area. Initially, only my teammates and mother were
cheering for me. However, once all the other swimmers were finished, both my home team and

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the opposing team were pulling for me to finish. I became the focus of all at the poolside. My
mother reported that it was difficult to reach me as students, parents, coaches, and onlookers
descended on me as I emerged from the pool. The Bay Swim team descended upon to
congratulate me and photograph the moment. The next event was delayed about five minutes due
to the excitement generated by my personal victory. Honestly, it felt surreal. My time was ten
minutes and forty eight seconds, which surprisingly also corresponds with my old Girl Scout
troop 1048. When I got out of the pool, the cheering was as loud as that of fans celebrating the
win of a hometown team.
I believe that a city in itself, if one resides there long enough. The community becomes a
home base where one feels safe in the company of friends. I hope that the entire world can
become a safe haven, a bubble, to all of its inhabitants. To accomplish this, we must let go of
hate and let peace and love shine through. In the future, for all anyone knows, our world can turn
against us and we would have to rely on each other for survival. The inhabitants of the city of
Bay Village embody this view and that is why Im proud to call it home.