Building your adventure: CIA veteran shares an inspiring story about courage with graduates

One of the top joys astir being retired from CIA is the accidental I present bask to immerse myself successful our section community, particularly the schools wherever my kids and their pals walk their days successful people and connected the sports fields. 

After all, state of accidental successful our glorious state starts with a good education. 

Around this clip of twelvemonth I'm ever honored to talk with precocious schoolhouse seniors who are astir to instrumentality a momentous measurement guardant toward gathering their ain adventure. My connection to them invokes 1 of the astir courageous and inspirational radical I've ever met, Gib Smith. 

Go forth, precocious schoolhouse graduates, and instrumentality inspiration from the large ones astir you. (iStock)

I archetypal met Gib successful the precocious 1980s erstwhile we were adjunct aquatics coaches for the Capital Sea Devils, based successful Washington, D.C. In summation to coaching, we some swam the greeting signifier with the older kids ages 12 to 18 from 5 to 7 a.m. 

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Gib, who had swum each done precocious schoolhouse and for James Madison University, was the fastest swimmer successful the pool. He and I were some successful our aboriginal 20s and from the infinitesimal we met, I admired Gib for being specified a beardown swimmer adjacent though our days of competing successful h2o polo and assemblage aquatics meets were agelong down us. 

But what made Gib's swimming prowess truthful bonzer was that helium was besides fighting cancer. Having been diagnosed with leukemia soon aft graduating from college, Gib would amusement up for signifier adjacent aft having been subjected to arduous crab attraction the time before. 

He inspired each of us, including aboriginal Olympian Tom Dolan, who was past lone 12 years aged and conscionable starting to travel into his ain arsenic a superb agelong region and idiosyncratic medley swimmer. I fondly retrieve good-naturedly teasing Tom, asking however it was that Gib was crushing him successful signifier adjacent portion recovering from different circular of radiation. 

In 1988, Gib raised $12,000 for the National Cancer Institute by competing successful the Chesapeake Bay Bridge aquatics contention held each twelvemonth successful aboriginal June. Even portion warring cancer, Gib was gathering his ain adventure.

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Adventure implies getting extracurricular one's comfortableness zone, which is particularly challenging for crab patients. That's wherefore Gib's communicative should resonate with high schoolhouse graduates arsenic they instrumentality the adjacent measurement successful what tin often consciousness similar a daunting caller section successful their lives. 

First, fewer precocious schoolhouse graduates person escaped immoderate adversity successful their lives, possibly connected the sports field, oregon God forbid arsenic was the lawsuit for my ain children, household trauma. But arsenic British Prime Minister Winston Churchill erstwhile said, "If you're going done hell, support going." 

In the words of my erstwhile brag astatine CIA Dave Petraeus, Gib overcame adversity by staying "fit to fight." Swimming 6,000-yard practices each greeting defined Gib's volition to flooded adversity by ne'er ever giving up. 

Second, precocious schoolhouse graduates should already beryllium reasoning astir connecting with thing larger than themselves by making a invaluable publication to their community, possibly adjacent to our federation oregon beyond. Gib was not lone empathically reasoning of different crab patients, helium besides impacted the remainder of us. 

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Anyone who mightiness person been weary astatine the extremity of aquatics signifier lone had to glimpse implicit astatine Gib warring done the symptom with each spot of spot helium had. We were each amended swimmers due to the fact that of him. And for years astatine CIA and present successful retirement, determination has hardly been a time that goes by erstwhile I bash not deliberation of Gib, and the shining illustration helium set. 

Third, arsenic they commencement preparing to marque important beingness decisions, precocious schoolhouse graduates should beryllium asking themselves this important question: Why? 

In the words of my SEAL Team Six friends, Gib planned the dive and dove the plan. He was swimming done brackish Chesapeake Bay h2o overflowing with jellyfish that greeting due to the fact that that's however helium chose to combat crab and bash his portion to assistance others suffering the aforesaid cruelly arbitrary fate. We should strive to beryllium honorable with ourselves astir the reasons for our large beingness decisions. 

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Gib successfully completed the grueling two-hour, 4-5-mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge contention contempt the frigid h2o and beardown currents. He besides bushed cancer, earned a instrumentality degree, got joined and had 2 children, who are present grown up and connected to gathering their ain adventures. 

So spell forth, precocious schoolhouse graduates, and instrumentality inspiration from the large ones astir you arsenic you take your way successful life's large adventure.

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