The making of a Hero

It was a beautiful day at Newnans Lake just east of Gainesville. A Jefferson County college student, intent on becoming a biologist, was in her element as she drove her fishing boat down to the water by the dock. The majesty of the lake and the sounds of life surrounded her. A passing storm left a fresh breeze and cooler temperature; a great day to fish for catfish and bream.
As she was readying her boat, she saw another boat with two men pull up to the dock. They were coming in from their fishing day. One man stood tall in the boat. The other put one foot on the dock, the other foot in the boat. As he pushed up to get out of the boat it moved back away from the dock. The man lost his footing and within seconds tumbled into about 10 feet of lake water.
The college student saw the man fall and expected to see his head come up from the water but he did not break the surface as she expected. Alarmed, she sprinted out to the end of the dock. She looked down and saw a man struggling under the water. "It was scary looking down at his upturned face" she said. "His eyes were wide open with fear. I've never seen a drowning before."
She frantically looked around knowing it would be foolish to jump into the lake with a large man, twice her size, flailing his arms in panic. Thankfully, a person from the shore noticed what happened and ran out to help. He immediately confessed, "I don't know how to swim either." Together they managed to pull the drowning man up on to dock. He laid there coughing up lake water, struggling to catch his breath.
While this was happening the two rescuers looked out into the water and saw the other boater splashing in the lake. He jumped in to try and rescue his boating partner. He was bobbing up and down, obviously unable to swim, and in trouble. The student looked around wondering what to do next and she had to think fast. She leaped into the drowning men's boat and found a floatable seat cushion. She threw the cushion to the man who splashed erratically in the water. When he bobbed up for air she yelled, "Grab the cushion and pull up on it." He was able to get his head up on the cushion. She rummaged through the boat looking for something to throw to him and found a long pole. Leaning out, she placed the end of the pole right in front of him and he grabbed it. With the help of the other person on the dock they slowly pulled him along the side of the dock to shore.
A crowd gathered around them. Once she knew both men were okay she said, "You guys should get some small life vests and wear them all the time in your boat. They are easy to wear and they inflate when you hit the water." Breathless and feeling shaky, she returned to her boat and got bottles of clean water for the half drowned men to drink.
Quietly, no fanfare to it, she loaded her boat and glided into the calm waters with her constant companion, a black Labrador retriever, at the bow and they left the men with the crowd. She was shaking her head in disbelief as she moved away from shore. She could hardly comprehend what had happened. Who would have thought a small young woman would be saving the lives of two large drowning men that afternoon. As the wind blew in her face, the seriousness of the situation hit her. Small streams of tears fell over her face and blew into her hair. All that adrenaline needed a release.
A characteristic of a hero is someone who can keep a cool head in an emergency situation. She passed that test with flying colors. All her experience as an outdoor lover and fisherwoman enabled her instinctively to think fast and size up the situation. And not be afraid to act. She immediately looked for solutions.
Hopefully before the day was over she was able to pull something else out of the water. Fish! That would be any easy catch after all the earlier excitement.