Personal Narrative Essay On Gymnastics

         For years gymnastics has been a sport that many children participate in. But as the years have gone by it has turned into something other than a place for kids to grow and learn. Its overwhelming commitment has continued to replace kids’ childhoods with stress, mental and physical pain and eating disorders. Many results have come from this change in the gymnastics society. Gymnasts have come to a point where they have been told and directed to understand that winning is the only important factor in gymnastics. “ It’s about the elite child athlete and the American obsession with winning that has produced a training environment wherein results are bought in at any cost, no matter how

Imagine walking on a four-inch piece of wood that is four feet off the ground, or flying through the air performing skills people only dream of doing. Gymnastics is a sport that taught me many things including, how to preserve through difficult situations and how to overcome my fears. I did gymnastics for ten years before I decided that the sport was too stressful and time consuming.

Most of my life I 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 what also lead me to want to become a Physician Assistant.

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.

At the tender age of five, my family decided to put me into gymnastics, one of the most challenging sports, both physically and mentally. Gymnastics revolves around obtaining perfection—an unreachable goal for anyone, especially a five-year-old. Albert Einstein defines insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Performing the same routine in front of a panel of people who will judge even my smallest flaws fits this definition to a tee. Welcome to the world of competitive gymnastics. What compelled my parents to put me in this sport, I will never know, but I have never regretted their decision.

For my report I decided to do it on gymnastics. My report will include the history about gymnastics. I will talk about how to do gymnastics and the benefits for doing gymnastics. I will also explain how I am involved in gymnastics. In the late eighteenth-and the early nineteenth-century gymnastics began. It started in Germany. Johann Friedrich Gutsmuths and Friedrich Ludwig Jahn created gymnastics. It is different now because back then they did not have all of the things that we have now. To do gymnastics, you need lots strength and flexibility. Some of The rules for gymnastics are that on floor you have to stay inside the line so if you are doing flips on the floor when you land you must be inside the line Gymnastics is good for you because

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!

My father have always wanted me to be an open-minded girl with different interests, and my parents tried to give me any opportunity to explore myself and find my true passion.

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.

What if in a matter of seconds all your dreams that you have worked your entire life for shattered before your eyes? What if this happened all while millions of people were watching? Would you still get up and try again? Shawn Johnson has conquered many challenges throughout her gymnastics career all while being watched by millions of people. In the book, “ Winning Balance,” Shawn shares some of her challenges and how she overcame them. The theme of this book is to never give up and keep trying even if it seems as though you have already lost. One quote from the book that really portrayed this theme is, “ Sometimes the real victory comes from simply not giving up. Just remember: God is big enough to handle every challenge, and he is loving enough to calm every fear.” ( pg. 91) The setting of this book takes place in Iowa as well as the 2008 Olympics in Bejing, China.

My bare feet pushed against the navy blue, spring boarded floor. A wide mirror, that took up nearly the entire wall, casted back the reflection of the gymnastics battling their mind sets. I faced the mirror. My coach along my side had put his arm against mu back a clear sign to throw my backhand spring. My mind rattled, as I felt the sticky, heat of sweat starting to form against my hair line. My legs trembled, the kind of trembling that is so violent you forget to breath. What if he didn't catch me? My neck breaks? If I lose trust in myself? I shook myself from the thoughts. I needed something to control the chaos that was controlling my mind. I breathed in. A big gust of sweat bombarded my lungs. To most this smell was of great displeasure, but to me it was blanket of comfort. The loss in mind set only wasted a few seconds. I felt the courage boost back up, as I began to squat. Next my arms started to swing, and after that quick moment I was off the ground. I had no interest in landing, but just like that I was on my feet. A smile formed on my coach's face, and his claps sounded like triumph. With this achievement I wanted to throw so badly on my own. I licked the few, salty

As I got an invitation to go to open gym with my friends, my main thoughts were, “I hope I can get some new skills tonight.” Little did I know, my thoughts about four hours later would be, “I have never been so upset, angry, or disappointed in my life.” As I walked into the cold, noisy gym, I was prepared to achieve my round off back handspring back tuck. I assured myself that I would be able to do it successfully. I wished that the ground was as soft and comforting as the dark trampoline with orange and blue bumpers. Seeing girls doing back walkovers on the thin, beige, four- inch beam, swinging their bodies around the slippery, uneven bars, and flipping themselves into the sky blue, squishy mat made me tell myself, “If they can do that,

As a former gymnast, cheerleading was never something I planned on doing. In the gymnastics world, cheer was hated. Gymnasts everywhere claimed that cheerleading “stole” tumbling from us. So when I made the Junior Varsity team my freshman year, I expected the worst. Looking back, cheer has taught me more life lessons in the past four years than gymnastics ever did in the ten years I was a gymnast.

Deep breaths… Okay- you got this. It’s just you and the vault. Nothing else matters. You have done this a million times before. Nick always here to catch me if I fall. Muscle memory takes over. When I am in the right mental state, anything seems possible. Any athlete would agree with me. All sports are half mental. As I run down the runway I know why I am a gymnast. Every bounding step I take I run farther and farther from everything happening in my life. Farther and farther from all the distractions. I can only hear my feet pounding into the springboard. Flying off the vault with a power I don’t even know I contain, everything zapped into slow motion. This is what it all comes down to. Every minute of training in the gym. Every wrist and ankle

Once upon a time, there was a gymnast named Skyler, and she lived happily ever after. The end. Well, it’s a bit longer than that.