Gymnastics Personal Statement

Basic gymnastic skills came easy to me, so I did very well in events and moved up in competition levels rapidly. Yes I ate, breathed and slept gymnastics, but I may have given less than 100% effort in training at times because things came so easily to me. After 9 years of training, accomplishing advanced skills became difficult and I stopped advancing like I had so easily done in the earlier years. I became stagnant in my completion level and obtained a couple injuries that ultimately ended my ability to continue as a competitive gymnast. At the time I did not see this as failure, I felt it was just an accident and life was unfair. Because the majority of my life had revolved around something I could no longer do, I became slightly depressed and really didn't know what to do with my extracurricular life. I tried track, dancing, basketball, swimming, and cheerleading. Since cheerleading contains many gymnastic-like similarities, I felt comfortable in that environment. As with gymnastics, I excelled quickly as a leader and as a mentor to younger girls and being co-captain and captain of the cheerleading teams, I had additional responsibilities other than just my individual success. Since injuries in cheerleading are common and I know first hand how an injury can adversely affect ones happiness, I found myself focused on injury prevention to my own body and to the other girls on the

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.

I wouldn’t be in this place if it weren’t for gymnastics, I highly love gymnastics and It really makes me work hard for the things I want to happen!

Due to a debilitating back injury, last year I had to give up the sport that was my life for so long. My emotions were all over the place, from depressed, to lonely, missing my friends at the gym, I was a mess. Gymnastics was what I did for so long. All my hard work went down the drain. My main focus turned to school. My interaction with society outside of gymnastics grew stronger. However, I soon discovered that gymnastics skills were not the only thing I learned. Gymnastics is a sport that has hidden life lessons, lessons that I did not realized were ebing taught. These lessons I have taken away, I am applying to my new life. From small things like eye contact when being spoken to that represents respect, how to look at the bright side of things, the value of time, and to never give up on even the most difficult things in life. These lessons have shaped my life and made me who I am. It wasn't all for nothing. The outcome was actually pretty

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

I had the absolute honor of meeting and interviewing the wonderful Isis Howard, a Residential Advisor in PCV 1. Isis, a 2nd year Environmental Management and Protection major, greeted me with a smile which led me to immediately feel comfortable around her. Isis had several personal motivations for why she chose to become a RA; ranging from personal growth and gaining useful life skills, such as communication, honesty, and leadership, to giving back to the Cal Poly community. One point brought up that resigned with me was that her transition to living on her own had been difficult, but her RAs were there for her every step of the way. Their efforts to create a sense of home in an unfamiliar environment truly motivated her to become a RA. Now that Isis has received the job, she mentions she receives the benefits that she hoped for from the beginning everyday- she continues to develop skills in a wide range of areas that deem valuable for life.

This is one of the most difficult student positions to hold and to perform well, and still have a social life. As a RA you are called on to do a mutilate of tasks that need to be done in a certain amount of time, while at the same time you are still a student, and still hold college experience. As an Resident Assistant you hold many responsibilities, and held accountable for so many other people during the time you are shaping your own education. By far being an RA, a student, a person who can make bad decision at times and a sociable being is one of the greatest challenges you will face during your life as an RA here at Delaware State University. RA's act as the supervisors (Mother Hen, or Pops) of their floor/wing or apartment unit and gain valuable experiences that will exercise their organization, leadership, supervisory methods, crisis management, and peer counseling skills in the area of conflict resolution. All of these experiences you will gain as an RA are experience that you can use for a lifetime, and use as an example for any other situation that may arise in the

Growing up, both my brother and I were very involved in athletics; from baseball/softball to basketball to football to track and volleyball. A competitive spirit was instilled in my life at a early age. As I got older, I focused mainly on softball; competing around the country in hopes of gaining a college scholarship. Sadly, the summer before my junior year I tore my rotator cuff and labrum in my shoulder and messed up multiple muscles throughout my arm and back. Therefore, my softball career came to an end.

In order to support the costs of my education, I began working in the Housing Department. My student worker experience led me to become a Resident Assistant (RA). Through this position, I dealt with various situations involving many different people from diverse cultures. My tasks included building a community with the freshmen while handling students’ relationships, suicidal thoughts, study strategies, parties, and overall adjustment from high school to college. This position has been one of the most rewarding opportunities as it has allowed me to develop and improve skills I will use for the rest of my life. I take great pride in knowing that my residents can depend on me and come to me in times of

career through my high school years until an injury brought my dreams of being a competitive gymnast

An RA works to create that positive community by being selfless, available, committed and compassionate about their responsibility. Being an RA is not easy and I understand that I will be tested. An RA would be required to devote more time to my residents. Being an RA, i would have to mediate conflict between roommates or floor-mates, and also I would have to work to make sure no one is being deprived of anything such as a peaceful study or sleeping environment. I know sometimes my duty would require me to step up deal with students whom might not be compiling with either the school, housing or floor rules.

This is when i told my mom I refuse to go back until I gained more skill. For the next year i went to countless gymnastics gyms to learn to tumble, jump, and gain more flexibility. At these gyms i joined private lessons and big classes. There were countless hours of conditioning, drills, sweating and crying.

I interviewed two RA’s, and an RAC, who opened my eyes to a new view of what the responsibility and job of an RA truly consists of. I interviewed two RA’s who both currently live in Machuga. The first RA I interviewed is Osric Sears, a student whom I’ve never met before. It was an intriguing experience because I love meeting new people and he allowed me see the life of an RA from an inside point of view, not just someone speculating from the outside. During the interview, I questioned Mr. Sears about what revolved around the job and its incorporation school such as: “Why did you become an RA?” “Is the position as easy as you thought it would be?” “Does this job affect your schoolwork in any way?” “How many residents are you responsible for?” He answered each with great detail and clarified that becoming an RA is a valuable way to gain more experience working with different people and to be more open, the task of an RA is both effortless and adamant considering that it is what you make of it and all of your endeavors eventually pays off., The duty of an RA affects one’s school work only if you make it, and he takes care of the students in his hall. After I was done asking about the academic aspect of the job, I proceeded to the social aspect. I questioned if his job negatively affected his social life in any way, and he replied that not only did it not affect his social life negatively, but improved in abundance due to the fact that he was able to meet and

Using my old experience and old habits I had become just as good or even better than before. As I was on the freshman team for gymnastics, I had brushed off the rustiness from the break that I had taken. Even though the sport is as not tough and rough as club, I still felt the rush that I did before. As I take the skills and lessons that I learned from club gymnastics, I still work just as hard and have just as much fun. As freshman year continued, I started to remember the habits and the reasons why I loved this sport. With a different coach and new teammates, I still felt at home. Jumping back onto the equipment was like riding a bike, even though I was a little rusty at first, I will always remember what was taught to me. Throughout freshman year I have improved and grown potential that I hope to apply later in life and later in gymnastics. I push for new skills and moves every day, but most importantly the sport makes me feel

At the age of three my parents decided to put me in gymnastics, I excelled immediately and after a couple months I entered into the pre-competitive program. My love for gymnastics continued and I became a provincially ranked, high level gymnast until the age of fourteen when I shattered my ACL and meniscus in my knee which required surgery. However, my years of gymnastics taught me a great deal of skills that I carry with me to this day. Primarily, I learned exceptional self-discipline, time management, and balance (metaphorically and physically). Gymnastics is exhausting on the body and the mind as you need total cohesion of both to excel. During my peak, I was training five hours per practice, upwards of five days a week and during the summer I would train six hours a day, six days a week. Gymnastics taught me that if you want something badly enough you will work as hard and as long as it takes to reach your goals. After shattering my ACL I pushed to continue training and I competed in my final competition and was the provincial champion on the bars event for my age category. I refused to let this surgery end my career. Six months after the surgery, I joined a competitive cheerleading team who I competed with for three years. Cheerleading was very different for me because it required all of the skills I had learned from gymnastics and on top of that I had to learn how to work with a team. I believe gymnastics is a huge part of who I am and has helped me to become the