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Mónica del Rosario Hernández of Special Olympics Guatemala is known for her happiness, her dreams, her wishes, but also the frustration that she has experienced.
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Mónica del Rosario Hernández of Special Olympics Guatemala celebrates her gold-medal performance at the first Special Olympics Latin America Games 28 March-2 April 2006 in San Salvador, El Salvador. [Photo courtesy Special Olympics Latin America] |
Growing up, she enrolled in numerous educational institutions, trying to find help with her learning problems, but was disappointed that many didn't help her make any progress. She still works hard every day to master basic reading and writing abilities, which have been the most difficult areas of learning for her.
Despite her educational frustrations, she has always been able to count on the support of her family — her parents and siblings. At the age of 5 she was taught to swim; there was a pool near her home and her family wanted to lessen the chances of an accident. When she enrolled at a new school in 2001, she signed up for sports activities, notably aquatics. Her success enabled her to compete in the 2001 and 2002 Special Olympics Guatemala National Games, winning gold medals in her events. Hernández's 2002 victories put her name into the lottery for the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and she was delighted to be chosen for the delegation participating in Ireland.
Hernández received intensive training for the next eight months, and the effort and self-discipline carried over into the other aspects of her life. She went on a strict diet to lose weight and improve her fitness. She committed to improve her schoolwork and behavior, and took pride in helping at home. She grew interested in decorating her bedroom and keeping it neat, which has now become a habit.
The trip to Ireland was a great experience for Hernández — in addition to the two gold and one bronze medals that she won, she made many friends and gained self-confidence.
The frustration she has experienced over the years can be illustrated by this incident from the 2003 Games, which involves her difficulties with math. Hernández had trained in a 50-meter pool and was drilled to understand that she had to swim four lengths to complete 200 meters. But in Ireland, her competition was held in a 25-meter pool. She began the race leading all her competitors, completed four lengths and stopped, only to become disconcerted to see that the other competitors were still swimming. Hernández couldn't understand the shouting, predominately in English, coming from the stands, but quickly understood what was happening and resumed swimming as fast as she possibly could. Although she had already lost precious time, Hernández caught up to the group ahead of her and ultimately finished in third place for the bronze medal.
Without her confusion on the number of laps, it seems certain she would have won the gold medal, considering her lead in the race and her qualifying time the previous day. But Hernández was very happy with her effort, and never once complained about what had happened.
Still, it's a lesson she has taken to heart. Now she is always telling her fellow swimmers that they should never stop swimming until the final whistle.
Today Hernández is 25 and continues to work at school to overcome her problems with reading, writing and mathmatics. She continues to participate in national events, and at the first Special Olympics Latin America Games (28 March-2 April 2006 in San Salvador, El Salvador), Hernández won gold in aquatics.
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