I remember the instructor teaching us the fundamentals of swimming, and while this was happening, I was thinking to myself that I rather be playing with my toys than learning how to swim. The instructor starts the
Here is an example of the tense changing that Cammi mentioned. You can turn it all present tense by changing was to is.
Also... "I would rather be playing..."
You did a good job of covering "why you initially chose it, why you continued with it, and how you benefited from it." However, I think you should use some of their key words to show that you are responding to the prompt.
"initially chose"
"benefited"
"continued"
:-)