Creative Writing: I Grew Up In The Gym

Wednesday, April 7th, 1994 started out like any other day, I was attending Jr. hHigh sSchool, in St. George Utah. As a I was a young 12 year old girl that was obsessed with gymnastics, I breathed it, studied it, and lioved it. Gymnastics was my Life.! I daydreamed about competing in front of hundreds of people, lights dimmed down, the spotlight right on me as I performed each skill I worked so hard at perfecting each day at practice. I would picture myself going over my routines, every step, every pose, each body positions, how I’d present myself, f . . . . everything. I wanted to be a college gymnast.

When I stepped onto the blue mat in this new gym, I knew this was where I wanted to be. After years of dreaming of going to this gym, reality finally kicked in and I was ready to start my journey. I had cheered for five years in McKinney, Texas and I started out loving it. That gym made me realize cheer was my sport. The reason I loved it so much was because of my coach, Raul. He was like a brother to me and pushed me to do my best and try new things even when I was worn out and felt like giving up.

I work as a gymnastics coach at Trousdell Gymnastics Center. It is a recreational center that provides programs for all Tallahassee residents, specializing in gymnastics and exercise. The goal of this organization is to provide a safe and affordable program that keeps the community fit and engaged. They offer recreational gymnastics classes for boys and girls of all ages. There are also preschool and kindergarten programs for the younger children. On the other end of the spectrum there are adult classes that teach gymnastics and overall fitness. In addition, the gym offers classes for children with special needs. Finally, Trousdell offers a competitive gymnastics program for exceptional boys and girls. Three Olympic gymnasts have come through this program. Trousdell Gymnastics Center is named after a former Tallahassee Parks and Recreation Director Randy Trousdell, a man passionate about his community and the health of its children. Since it’s opening over 60 years ago the gym has impacted 500,000 children’s lives. I coach recreational classes for girls ages seven to fifteen years old. I begin every class by leading an extensive stretch and then we go to the events of the day where I set up stations for gymnasts to practice different skills. I end every class with conditioning to help the gymnasts grow stronger so that they can perform skills successfully. Trousdell Gymnastics Center coaches have a responsibility to these children. It is our goal to make the two hours a

The gym was so confusing. Everyone had an odd lingo that I had never had any experience with. They used certain words that I had never heard before. They dressed in revealing clothes. I was unable to figure out the distinction between sets and reps, which it turned out that those two words are the most utilized terms in weightlifting. I always heard words like lat, core, one rep max, spot, lower, etc. It was comparable to learning a new language for me. But with time and learning, I came to understand what was being said or asked in the gym environment. Seeing my father go everyday and him being an authority figure, definitely inspired my love for weightlifting. To this day I love the discourse community of weightlifting and consider myself an avid member who plans to be a member until my body ceases to cooperate.

The gym where I practice to win, the YMCA, is a place where I know who I am. It is a place I can go to escape my problems for awhile and release some stress. It is not the actual physical building, but rather the events that have occurred over the years. It is where I have formed some of the closest friendships. It is the place I have invested years of hard work for many of my accomplishments. To some it may seem odd that a place associated with sweat and physical pain can mean so much to one person. However, in my eyes it is almost like a second home.

Everyone remembers that one place, that one place that instantly makes you feel good, that one place where you can completely act like yourself. For me, that one special location forever remains Texas Best Gymnastics, in McKinney, Tx. What I always adored was practicing with my team.I began competing there at the age of eight, and I competed my last competition shortly after my thirteenth birthday. However, even though I no longer spend half my time at the gym like I used to, it still invokes the same effect on me. Now that I stepped away from competing for a few years, when I look back on how stressful it seemed, I can still see all the wonderful memories I created. More than anything, I see what a wonderful impact the gym had on my life.

There, we were told that we were to go down to the floor level of the stadium to warm up our routine in two hours. In the meantime, we got ready and toured the massive stadium. It was quite a sight to see; thousands of seats surrounded the field below. Rooms and stores surrounded the array of seats and large screens and speakers hung from the ceiling of the stadium showing a live feed of the teams already performing. On the ground below, a large black curtain divided the field horizontally into two sides: one side for practicing and the other for performing. On either side lay large sheets of light blue mats for stunting and tumbling.

Most of my life was consumed with the sport of gymnastics. I remember the rush I would get as it was my turn to compete in front of the cheering crowd. In those moments nothing else mattered; just me, the chalk on my calloused hands and the equipment in front of me. I have competed in gymnastics ever since I was five years old. I spent six days a week in the gym practicing all year round and even volunteered part of my time to a community program teaching gymnastics to children. Gymnastics had a tremendous role in shaping me into the person I am today and it is also what led me to want to become a Physician Assistant.

The first thought I had when I first stepped into this place was fear. As a toddler, this was a big place to be without my mom being right beside my side. I saw all of the older girls defending their kingdom, flying through the air, in my eyes, perfectly. Knowing one day, I wanted to be just like them. That day, I felt inspired to be the best I could be, pushing myself to be nothing less. From that day on, every time I step into the gym, all I feel is a feeling of gratefulness. Where else could I ever have this feeling?

The reasons that I think you should let me go on the trampoline is because, I love it, it helps me stay in shape, and whenever I try a new trick I always put pads down on the trampoline. I am very sorry for jumping off of the roof and it will never happen again, however of this happens I will allow you to take down the trampoline or an even longer period of as a punishment…

"Sometimes you gotta let something bad happen, or else you wont know how to fix things when they go wrong later."

She always had the class do projects that required making up a dance or finding a fitness routine and then teaching it. I learned everything from step aerobics, yoga, to weight training.  The school gym was huge. The walls were painted a faint light gray and the floors were hardwood with all types of mysterious stains on it. I always liked to dance and act silly in the wide open space of my school gym. My teacher would watch me every class twirling and spinning across the hard surface of the wooden floors.

One freezing day, my sister and I were going jogging. We ran in our bright jogging gear. My sister in a bright red and blue shirt, with navy green plush joggers. I’m in a slick pinkish orange shirt and blue joggers. We ran by the beautiful navy blue river, small white birds were cooing and squawking. We ran for an hour and a half. We both had so much fun, we were covered in sweat, and agreed the we needed showers. Before The long and cold walk back, we got some hot dogs with yellow mustard and green relish on them. We went back to sit down and dip our feet in the cool river. The salty hot dogs filled our stomachs. The bright yellow stars and bright white moon filled the sky. On the walk back the smell of blueberry muffins filled the air, i

As I walked out of my car it already turned very dark out, the sun was gone, and the stars began to show their colors in the sky. I felt the winter breeze run through my body as I walked to the door. All the other rooms were dark around the entrance accept the main door. Inside you see yellow and black themed table cloths and balloons set up as decorations. The excitement began to grow more inside of me as I got closer to going into the gym. Although right after my excitement slowly began to decrease as time went by. Students continued to enter, first started with groups of five, then four, then

One such example of a gym is Lifetime Fitness in Collierville Tennessee. driving past it, one would hardly even guess it was a gym. Lifetime is a towering building with large glass windows framing nearly the entire exterior, almost resembling an office building the likes of which one would expect to see in a place like New York or Los Angeles. Stepping into the parking lot, signs of activity are already evident; children’s laughter, the splashing of water and the whistle of the lifeguard can be heard in the distance from the large outdoor pool that extends from the left side of the building.