What is square one, and can you actually go back to it?


In Monopoly, square one is Go, the tile where I collect $200 and head off once again to St. James or Broadway. In hopscotch, square one is clearly marked with a big, white number. In both cases, square one is definite.


But in life, square one is much harder to define because it is always changing and never constant. Square one is any point that marks the end of one section and the start of another through one journey in a person’s life. It is a badge of accomplishment and a symbol of progress. Looking back, I see this clearly in my decade-long swimming career. At age 5, square one was my 100-yard backstroke event at my first swim meet. At age 7, my ascent into my aquatic club’s competitive group marked another a new beginning. And at age 11, breaking the Junior Olympic time standard propelled me into the next chapter of my swimming career.


But making progress to reach the next square one is never easy. After celebrating my Junior Olympic time, I wanted to get into the Gold group. Gold group was, well, the gold standard of swimming. There, you would not find swimmers. You would find human torpedoes who glide gracefully through the water. These were the best of the best, the elite of the elite. For a year and a half, I committed myself to improving, attending every practice and giving my all each and every day. Five days after my 13th birthday, I unexpectedly received a salmon-colored slip of paper congratulating me on my promotion to Gold. I had just passed another square one, one that showed me firsthand that it was truly possible to accomplish my dreams through hard work.


From a casual jogger to a Spartan Race triple finisher, from a timid, first-time stockholder to a confident investor, or from a quiet school library volunteer to an outspoken leader on campus, I realized this definition of square one has held true in all my journeys. In each of these journeys, I passed through many square ones, each of which has helped me become who I am today. Though it is impossible to return to the original square one, I can move to the next square one by making progress toward the future.


As I make my way through this game of life, I will inevitably encounter many more new beginnings and square ones. These starting points will become my lifetime memories, the first strokes taken in new laps of the 500-yard race of life.