Personal Narrative: My Gymnast

As I say goodbye to the sport I've loved for the past two years, I look back at the moments where I've wanted to give up and just quit. But more importantly, I remember what got me back on track. " Champions aren't made under the bright lights in front of a crowd, they're made on those early mornings and humid afternoons where you'd rather be asleep" Through the countless injuries and setbacks I've faced these past years, all the workouts I went through, I can finally say I've given everything I can to my sport. I may not have reached all the goals I've set out for myself, but I know I did everything in my power to do so.

After landing your roundoff, jump with your hands above your head and push your hips forward, creating an arch. This step is crucial to the technique of the back handspring. Without it, your back handspring will resemble a frog leaping. Once your hands hit the floor, you should be in a handstand position again. From here all you have to do is throw your legs over. Make sure you snap your feet to the floor as quickly as possible so you will not land on your stomach. You always want the beginning of your back handspring to be longer than the end. After you land, jump straight into the air with your arms over your head and you have finished the back

My motions, spirit, volume, and confidence took me very far, but the tumbling was number one. Having just a forward roll could not make the cut in what was considered real tumbling. I mastered a cartwheel, but in order to be great, I had to try to do something beyond what I had already accomplished. I started in middle school cheer practice attempting to do my back handspring with the help of my coaches. The back handspring is normally the first step in obtaining tumbling up to par with competitive gymnastics and cheer standards. I would work on it at home with my parents from time to time, but I still was not getting it. Cheer tryouts for high school were just around the corner, but I didn't have my tumbling. My smile, motions, jumps, and confidence took me where I wanted to go, but I still had to go beyond what I already mastered to grow. I made the team, but in order to cheer at the games, I had to have that back handspring. I then begged my mom to pay for me to go to tumbling the summer before my freshman year. She did, and this time, I practiced every day and pushed so hard to get

There were many times during practice, I just wanted to give up, my body hurt like crazy and I could feel my heart pounding thunderously through my chest. But I beat on because I knew stopping now would get me

After each training our bodies felt numb, our muscles worked to the max, and our calluses on our hands from the uneven bars weren’t the prettiest sight for teenage girlsl. We would go into the physical therapy room of our facility and spend 30 minutes ice bathing our ankle, knees and joints before leaving each day. But,for the day but it was all worth it. Every sweat mark that dripped from my face, every tear, everything. Iit was all worth it. I lioved for this sport.!

My first meet of season was coaches spectacular again. I had a vault first and I had been practicing this for awhile now and was really scared to do it. I looked at the judges to show them I was ready The judges had saluted to me and I did the same back to start my pass. I stepped on the runway with butterflies in my stomach and stepped with one foot at a time. Then I had sprinted down the runway, jumped onto the board and had rose up onto the vault and did my tsuk and I stepped out to save my balance.That took off .3 tenths on my original score if I had stuck my vault pass , but it is better then falling it would have knocked off 1.0 point. I had the choice to do a second vault but I was happy with my

The whole month my parents had been bugging me of something that I was so unsure about. They were trying to encourage me to try something new, something I had never done before. I was so scared and nervous… I didn’t want to feel intimidated, but that’s exactly how I felt. I kept refusing my parent's request to “get involved” as they would say. I had only a pittance of knowledge about high school cheer. When I attended cheer tryouts the first week of June, I was extremely nervous and bubbling with trepidation, as well as fear. I would've never even known that this sport would have such an extraordinary impact on my life. Throughout my entire high school cheer experience, there has only been one person who has been there with me through it all. This particular person, also know as Coach Ruby, has given me moral support in everything I have achieved. Through all of the blood, sweat and tears, she has been there, regardless. It is known that every coach dreams to see their athletes succeed and reach his or her highest potential. My coach has provided me with the ultimate necessities to have the most remarkable cheer experience possible. She consistently keeps a close surveillance on each and every cheerleader to provide individuals with the most accurate feedback possible. As she encourages everyone to do their best, she also reminds us to look past our perturbation. She’s taught me that dreams don’t work, unless you work for them. Overall, my coach, Ruby, acts like a second mom and I can only hope that she subsists in my life even after high school cheer is over for

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 continued training and became the provincial champion on the bars even in my age category. Six months

During my 2nd semester of freshman year, I started to work a lot of building strength in my arms. I started going to the gym and also using a Theraband to build up the muscles in my arms that I did not have. After going to the gym for only two weeks, I began to notice a huge difference. Not only in my inversions, but also in Chaturanga and downward dog. As well as working on my strength, I worked on dropping my weight in my plié’s so that it would be easier to just feel the weight dropping down instead of me holding back.

Wow!A girl just jumped from the low bar to the high bar. Next it was my turn. I didn't know if I could do it. I had a comp next week and I had to practice . I was shivering so badly as I slowly presented. I did the easy bits like chin up pull over and 2 casts. The. Next thing I had to do was jump from the high bar. I was terrified. I did a cast and jumped to the high bar but I landed face first. OUCH.

“ I wish I could do that” that is what I used to say. Now I’m closer than ever! I tried to accomplish doing a backhandspring without falling. I had A class at the CCC and I have been at it for about five weeks although I did not accomplish landing a backhandspring I am closer than I have ever been before. The materials needed to do the skill are yourself, a spotter, and a mat.

As a second grade girl it seemed like a right of passage to join a gymnastics class. I was so excited to be alongside my friends and I felt like gymnastics was the thing for me. I went to class every week total ignorant to the fact that I was skyrocketing over everyone else in my class at Rita’s Gymnasium. Awkward, lanky, and clusty, are all awful characteristics of someone aiming to be on the US Olympic Gymnastics team. The coaches paid absolutely no mind to me and focused on the girls that seemed to be rapidly advancing in their skills, but I just couldn’t get the hang of anything. I put in the effort and then some because I thought that was what being great would take, but sometimes we are just at a disposition in life

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 I get ready for the first skill I feel like it is going to be more than good. Once my hands touch the white velvety tumbling floors, and my legs swing over my head, I feel complete exhilaration! I see the flash of the cameras going on and off, and I am blinded by the bright light, but that didn't stop me! All I could think about was the things that my coach always yelled at me about! Straighten your legs...Turn your hands in..look pretty! About to finish my routine, I feel like I am daydreaming. When I set to go into my back tuck I was worried. In warm up I was over rotated, and my legs swooped under me and I fell on my back. So I am not going to lie, I was nervous! But I was overjoyed when my set was on point which allowed me to do this beautiful back tuck with a clean kick out. Finally, I feel my feet hit the landing pad. It was a joy! Even though I finished my pass feeling dizzy, I still managed to keep it together and stick it!

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