Alex Zhang’s article, “Dead Last” is inspirational and encouraging. It is about how Alex Zhang worked hard to just be not last. When he did laps with his teammates he was always last, so he decided to practice more. He spent hours at the pool training with his dad until he was invited to participate in a competition.

At the competition, Alex swam as fast as he could and motivated himself to do well. He told himself, “I can’t be last,” and tried his hardest. He ended up winning fifth place out of eight. He didn’t put pressure on himself to get first place, he just wanted to improve his original score. Alex’s story shows that motivation and practice can help you achieve your goals.