"Ah, it's that time again", I thought as the Olympics opening ceremony began in London. I flipped through the schedule of all the events I found most interesting, but then a seemingly unprecedented thought popped into my head: Why are the Olympics so appealing? I never found myself admiring a baseball game or running to watch a Knicks game. But the Olympics seemed different. This enormous event brings with it an aura that subsumes the moods and attitudes of people across the globe. But why?

I began to muse over this interesting question, with little success. Almost clueless as to what the answer was, I sat to watch the women's 200m medley swim final. There was one swimmer that truly caught my eye and it was 16 year-old Ye Shiwen. The swimmers lined up and at the sound of the buzzer they sped through the water like a school of fish. They swam as if their lives depended on it; years and years of training were put into this single race. Each swimmer fought and fought for a lead, and out on top came the youngest swimmer of all, Ye Shiwen. She celebrated and came out of the water; a few tears dripped down her cheek. It was at that moment that the answer hit me: the charm of the Olympics does not come solely from the excitement, nor from the actual events, rather from the sole-full competitors and the heart that they put into their endeavors.

On the television screen I watched a 16 year-old girl, who was just my age, fulfill a potential set aside for a select few. All these competitors were indisputably the best of the best from across the globe. Ye appeared to be a larger than life superhuman, capable of something that very few can do, and yet was still a person like everyone else. She was different though, and quite enviable, not because of the award she would receive, but because she had put all that she had into something that she loved. We sense in her an achievement of a full existence, which draws us in. She serves as a model for each of us striving to achieve our unique existence. And so, yes there is a lot of excitement from the Olympics, but it's charm comes from its ability to see human beings in their fullest and most glorious forms.