As the years passed by my life has become easier. I had joined many diverse sports. Out of the many, the two I most enjoyed were gymnastics and ice hockey. I was introduced to gymnastics when the doctor expressed that I had scoliosis. He suggested I joined a sport such as gymnastics to repair my back. Ever since then, I have been a gymnast for twelve
Winning states in wrestling is one of the best moments in my life. It was at this time in Flint Michigan at IMA arena the last match of the year was finally here. I locked eyes with my opponents, walked onto the mat, put on my ankle band on, and put my foot on the tape ready to start. We shook hands. The whistle blew, I locked arms with him and it began. Our arms were locked tight, so tight I could barely move. For a second I thought he might win. But then we broke up, and I tried to take a shot he blocked it, and our arms were locked up again. The whistle blew and the first period was over, and it was tied zero to zero.
There are many things that have molded me into the person I am today such as being born into a family with four children. With three siblings, I have been forced to be able to work out problems from stealing each other’s toys to having to rush to the emergency room to get stiches because my brother chased me around the house and I tripped. My mother, father, brother, and two sisters were all born in Pennsylvania and I am the odd ball and I was born in Adrian, Michigan. From when I was a child I always loved being involved with sports because of my competitive nature. I grew up playing soccer and having success with that but then my love changed and I began playing lacrosse and football. I started playing lacrosse in middle school and played
Growing up my parents ran a little lake on the outskirts of my hometown of Shelbina here in northeast Missouri. I was the "tough" one out of my family by the time I was in the ninth grade I could use two weed eaters at the same time and pick up the back end of a golf cart. At 5'3 and wearing size 16 I was big girl and was often made fun of by my peers. I wanted to be something other than the "fat girl" at school. So I became stronger than an ox and used that to my advantage. My high school coach seen me one day bench pressing a picnic table and begged me to join the weightlifting program. I excelled at the class and became known as "Pipes" I went from being the chunky girl to being the girl that was respected for my bench pressing and squats. My coach believed in me and that was all I needed to continue to do my best. That year I made a C average except for weightlifting where I got an A and earned the respect from my peers and my coach.
I started gymnastics at the age of six and because of performing from an early age I became confident in being public. My motivation towards exercising has kept me on practicing a variety of sports for example ath...
Fourteen years of my life. Fifty two weeks of my year. Five days of my week. Four hours of my day. This is what I have given to the sport of gymnastics. Friday night football games. After school clubs. Sleeping in on the weekend. This is what I have sacrificed in pursuit of my passion. Perseverance against adversity. Dedication throughout hardships. Discipline in body and mind. These are the qualities this sport has engraved into my being. There is not a time I can remember when I was not involved in gymnastics. When I reflect on the milestones of my life I don’t reminisce on the loss of my first tooth or a move to a new house, but instead I recall my first trip to nationals and mastering my back tuck. Gymnastics is the foundation of who I
Imagine you see something or someone you thought you would never see before. I had that experience it before at the Ultimate Cheer Marathon. It was so breathtaking watching my favorite cheer squad face-to-face inside the big stadium, where the audience roared as they stepped on the mat. You seen amazing tumbling, perfect choreography, and the concession stand had excellent refreshments. Watching cheer in real life is such a fantastic experience. You should give it an attempt.
I went to X-treme Athletics Gym, which is a CrossFit gym. I’ve only known what CrossFit was for about a couple years and I had only seen it in videos or in pictures. I had never seen it in person or have done it myself, so going to X-treme Athletics was a new experience for me. I have been to different gyms that have a variety of workout machines, weights, and usual things that you would normally see at the SJSU gym. But at X-treme Athletics it is a whole different layout then I have seen at other gyms, what you see when going in are free weights, barbells, assaults bikes, rowers, and Gymnastic rings, but most of the gym is open space to workout.
Each game, my passion grew. Each team, new memories and lifelong friends were made. Sports sometimes make me feel disappointment and at loss; but it taught me to be resilient to a lot of things, like how to thrive under pressure and come out on top. Being the team captain of my high school’s football and lacrosse team showed me how having a big responsibility to bring a group together to work as one is compared to many situations in life. Currently playing varsity football, varsity lacrosse, and track I take great pride in the activities I do. Staying on top of my academics, being duel enrolled at Indian River State College, working three nights a week, and two different sport practices after school each day shaped my character to having a hard work
Thinking that I was strong minded and never looking at the negatives, ones suspicions changed my whole mind setting. After an endless wait in the mournful waiting room of the hospital, my name was called. The nurse brought us to Dr. Yazay's office where he confirmed his suspicions, and so began my life with scoliosis. Since the age of eight I have been swimming. I was a competitive swimmer for nine years, and now had to deal with a life without the activities I felt defined my identity. The treatment for my scoliosis involved wearing the most uncomfortable thing in the world which was a brace. With several restrictions on my physical activity, I had an abundance of free time on my hands.
I’ve always been the type of person that truly enjoys athletics and have participated in nearly all sports offered to me. I started playing sports in elementary with club softball and basketball. As I entered my middle and high school years I was able to add the school sanctioned sports to my list of activities. This afforded me the opportunity of competing in volleyball, basketball, golf, track and softball. The camaraderie and life lessons of sports seemed invaluable to me.
Once upon a time, I qualified for the Tae Kwon Do State Championships, to go to the Tae Kwon Do Junior Olympics in Orlando, Florida. It was my second year at the Jr. Olympics, and I was competing in two events. Sparring and forms. Forms has always been my favorite, partly because I was pretty good at doing them. Sparring was okay. I guess.
Careers in the performing arts are not sought as being monetarily lucrative, but I choose to believe that is the opportunity cost for having a career that creates so much to affect today’s society. I aspire to have a career in dance because I get to have a balance of strength and grace, the two components I deem necessary for navigating daily life.
I had my first dance recital on the day I turned four. Now I don’t remember anything from that day, but I believe that that day is when I learned I loved to perform. I’ve been taking dance lessons since then, and many things that I do now involve performing in some type of way.
I am forever grateful for the lessons I learnt, the people I met, the experience I gained and I now know what true love is. Gymnastics has made me into the person I am today. When something scares me I know how to conquer my fears, I know how to set goals, to deal with disappointment and I will always keep the leotards and tracksuits as memorabilia of a very special time in my life. I am not a quitter, I have left a
Throughout my early childhood, I went through several different phases. I practiced an abundance of different activities such as: dance, baseball, tumbling, gymnastics, and even baton. However, none of these sports or hobbies stuck. That is, until I discovered volleyball. Never have I felt the love for something as much as I did this sport. Volleyball has had an unimaginable impact on my life in so many ways. I would not be the person I am today if not for this sport.