As I was discussing the death penalty with my partner in Philosophy class, a very important announcement was made on the P.A.

"Attention all students and crew! If you look out the window this afternoon you will see that the water is deadly calm. This is why we are going to have our first swim call!"

At this moment, Ms N jumped out of her chair and started jumping around the class. Of course, the students were also very excited...

We were then relieved from class and went in our cabins to put on our swim suits before lunch. Devouring our hamburgers like never before, everyone was impatient to jump in the Mediterranean. We went outside and Alex came up to me.

"Are you going to dive or are you just going to jump?" she asked me.

"Oh I don't know yet but I will probably dive," I answered.

"Yea me too!" she said, "I don't know how high it is but it doesn't look that bad."

So we all went in line to jump from the bowsprit. One after another, everyone jumped until one student decided to dive. She wasn't as ready to do this as she thought she was and the result was a huge flop on her back. I could see the pain in her eyes and feel her distress. Then it was Alex's turn to go and I watched her carefully as she dove.

She didn't hesitate, not even for a split second, but nothing could change what was to happen. I heard a big painful noise and saw her almost crying as she came back from underneath the water. The same thing happened to her. A big flop on the back.

At this moment I decided that I wouldn't take any chances and simply jumped of the bowsprit. I stepped forward and felt I would never make it to the water.

Here it comes... oh, oh no not yet...here OOOOOH!

And finally it came, I reached the water! Swimming in the middle of the Mediterranean has never been so refreshing.

"AAAH!" said many people as they realized how cold the water was.

"OH my god," said some others.

This is not something that would come to your mind when you think of the Mediterranean. You would usually think that it would be crystal bleu and warm. But the truth is that even if it is crystal blue, it can be freaking chilly.

Wile I was in the water, I watched the others jumping and it was quite a funny experience. The girls would get ready to jump all together in a line on the bowsprit but every time, one of them would hesitate and stay.

"Ah! Oh my god I am going to die!" they would they say before jumping.

And then, when the time would come:

"Three, two, one.... Oh no, no, no, wait a second! I'm not ready yet!" and some would jump while the others would stay and hold as hard as they could to the net.

For the last jump of the swim call, all the boys from 12th grade and Galley jumped together at the same time. As they all took a step forward, we could hear a huge "cannonball!" and then the gigantic splash of fifteen guys bombing the water could have been heard for ten miles around.

To end the swim call, we all fought to climb up first on the ladder. The never-ending fight without mercy revealed the real man who climbed first wile the others would simply wait for their turn in the cold water of the Med.