“The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering.â€
(Ben Okri, 1959).
Name: Chris Savage
DOB: 19/11/1987
Age: 20
Location: Gold Coast
Christopher Gerald Savage is my full name, but you can call me Chris, "SavDog" or just "Savage" (my family name). I'm 20 years old, and I live at Reedy Creek on the Gold Coast. Developing young champions is what I do. I used to swim - I've spent what I'm sure were some of the best years of my life training really hard and competing harder. I now teach learn to swim and coach mini-squads as my part-time job while at uni. Since 'retiring' (I hate the term 'giving up'), I have learned a lot about myself and life in general. It's been a bit of a rough journey - I'm still getting sprayed by the white-wash. But I'm getting there.
I go to uni in Brisbane full-time and study a double degree: Bachelor of Arts in Languages & Applied Linguistics / Bachelor of Education (Secondary). I'm in my 4th year of 4.5 (NEARLY there!). I'm gonna be a High School English and Japanese teacher, and I'm starting my prac. teaching this year.I am, of course, a 'Junior Squad and Assistant Coach' licensed ASCTA swimming coach (what used to be called the 'Green License'), and an AUSTSWIM qualified 'Learn to Swim' teacher. As I mentioned previously, I coach the 'transition' squads (mini-squads) at Southport Pool (Gold Coast Aquatic Centre) and teach 'Learn to Swim' there as well. It's a great part-time job because I get to play my part in developing young athletes within the best sport in the world! My own years of competetive swimming provide me with the passion to do it. I also do a bit of lifeguarding and/or Kiosk work at the pool too, here and there, though I don't enjoy that as much.
So I really love my job, and although (as everyone does) I find Uni to be frustrating at times I really love what I do there too. I'm very passionate about my teaching areas (English and Japanese) and I enjoy teaching in general (as is obvious from my job).I am a poststructuralist and critical thinker. I believe in the power of language. I believe that we are bound by language. "We are doomed", as Foucault (1977) argues, "to the patient construction of discourses about discourses". I am a middle-man; never straying too far from the centre on any issue. That is because everything has pros and cons; it is about being critical and trying to come up with a balanced solution. This view has caused me to develop a reputation as somewhat of a diplomat. My very intelligent friend, David, describes diplomacy as "the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way as they look forward to the trip".
My two best mates would have to be Liam and Justin who I've known since at least year nine. I did Japanese at with them right the way through school and even went to Japan with them on the school trip, so we know each other pretty well!
Yeah, so that's Chris Savage in a nutshell. If you wanna know more or if any friends of mine don't have my MSN, it's [email protected]
100,000 Years of Evolution80 Years of Development14 Years of TrainingAnd all that counts is the next 1"43'86
(Speedo, 2008).
