I started gymnastics when I was three years old and
absolutely loved it. I also tried soccer, but that was a bust when I spent most
of my time doing cartwheels on the field. My mom quickly pulled me out of that
one and I became a gymnast full time. Like most people, I like doing things I
am good at and not to toot my own horn, but I was a pretty good gymnast.
I’m a big fan of competition. I like watching competitions
and routing for people, but mostly I like competing. Correction: I like
competing and placing. There was no better feeling in my youth than nailing a
gymnastic floor routine and seeing an awesome score, such as 9.7, and getting
rewarded with first place on the podium. I know that all sounds stuck up or conceded,
but it’s the truth. Can you really blame me? People have gifts for different
things: music, art, basketball, soccer, dance, etc. Well I’m not creative at
all and I’ve never been good at any sport that involves balls. I like to think
I was gifted at gymnastic though and I worked hard to be the best I could be. My
hard worked paid off through trophies, medal, ribbons and a strong sense of
accomplishment most of the time.
I made it all the way to level eight as I was entering my
freshman year of high school. Throughout the ten years I was involved with
gymnastic, my gym went through many coaches. That makes sense because coaching
most likely isn’t a person’s full time job. If it is, they probably move on to
bigger and better jobs. However, the older I got the more frustrating it became
to not have a solid coach anymore. The coaches came and went more frequently
and it was hard to adjust to someone new, telling you different things than
your previous coach. I loved the sport, but my heart became less and less in to
it. One day, I begged my mom to let me skip practice. She saw how miserable I
had become with the inconsistency and negativity that surrounded the atmosphere
at my gym lately. She told me that if I went to practice and didn’t want to be
there, that she would let me leave and never go back. I went to practice, I
warmed up, I practiced my first event and by the time I got to the second event
to warm up I just couldn’t hold in the tears. I can’t describe the feeling of
knowing when you’re done with something you’ve loved your whole life. I walked
into that gym to practice and somehow knew it would be the last time. I talked
to my coaches and my teammates, grabbed my stuff and left. That was the last
time I ever set foot in a gym to practice gymnastic.
It was a really sad time in my life, and a dramatic
13-year-old I thought I would have a miserable life from then on and I was leaving all of my best friends behind. Good news: my
life was not and is not miserable AND I still had and have friends! I ended up participating in cheerleading for
my high school for football and basketball season my freshman year of high
school. I also participated in track and field. My sophomore year of high
school I also took up competition cheer. It wasn’t any elite team, it was just
a team for my high school but I absolutely fell in love with it. My senior year
we got second place in the state. It was an amazing experience and I’ve kept
the love for cheerleading in my college career as well.
Deciding to be done with gymnastic was one of the hardest decisions
I’ve made in my life. I’m lucky to have found another hobby that I strive to be
the best at and have a passion for. College is stressful and not all that easy,
so it’s nice to have something to distract me from all the stress. It doesn’t
hurt that I’m pretty good at cheerleading too, not to toot my own horn.
This is something I never would have guessed about you!! It is so cool that you did gymnastics for so long, but I completely understand the decision to quit after it became too much. That was a mature decision you had to make at such a young age and I give you so much credit for doing so. Loving something but having to give it up is the hardest thing to do, but I'm glad you knew when it was enough.
ReplyDeleteYou are so lucky because it is difficult thing to find thing you are good at doing and you like it! I think most of people are good at it but they don't like it, or the reverse but you are good at doing gymnastic and you liked it. And even after you stopped doing gymnastic, you could find out other things you like! After I stopped playing badminton, still I can't find out other things I like as same as badminton. I like this article so much!!
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