Thursday, February 5, 2009

I miss gymnastics

My entire childhood my family kind of struggled with money so I was never able to be apart of any clubs or sports teams. I spent a lot of my time playing outside with my friends around our houses. Ever since I was probably about 5, I think, I wanted to be in gymnastics. In elementary school starting in kindergarten there was always a month out of the school year where they set up gymnastics equipment in the gym and that was our P.E. class. It was so much fun. I loved it and was actually not that bad for being really young.

I told my parents I wanted to be in gymnastics, and my mom listened to me and knew of a place she has taken pictures at for years that she could look at. It was a pretty cheap place; probably the cheapest one in the area, but it was still too much. It took all the way until I was in fifth grade for my mom to have enough money and she finally agreed to let me go.

Normally, girls start in level one and work their way up learning the basics. I started in level 3 and when I competed I actually did really well. I think my first competition I got 4th place. The next year in level 4 I got first! Normally only 12+ girls are allowed to compete at nationals, but because I got first I was allowed to compete. Again, I got first at nationals. It was so much fun!!
I went on the next two years, up until eighth grade, competing the next two levels. It was stressful on my body. I got back problems that I'm still experiencing today and a broken ankle, but it was definitely worth it.

I quit my freshman year of high school. It was a hard decision, but I wanted to be involved in school activities like swimming, diving, and track. I knew gymnastics and everything else would have conflicting schedules, so I chose school activities. Sometimes I regret it because I was good and I enjoyed it a lot, but being in school activities introduced me to a lot of people and it made my high school experience more enjoyable.

1 comment:

Mr. Ayers said...

That's a tough decision. Did you stay in the activities you'd given it up for?

You're doing a great job here, by the way.