My Gymnastics Story and Journey: Where it all started

I started gymnastics at seven at IK gymnastics because I struggled with physical challenges, such as crossing midline, coordination, and balance. My parents enrolled me in an occupational therapy program in the form of gymnastics. I instantly fell in love with the sport and found a fantastic passion. I love the feeling of flipping and how you feel like you are flying. 

Once I successfully graduated from the program, I started doing recreational classes.  As my skills improved, I started moving up the class levels and  I joined my first competitive team at Dreams in 5th grade. I did Xcel Bronze, made state, and placed a few times that season. 

The year going into my 6th-grade season,I switched gyms and  I competed for Wilmette in their Junior Olympic Program. I did level 4 for three straight years. In 2019, I qualified for the Level 4 State Championships  and placed 8th on bars for my age group. 

During my 8th grade season, I did half a year of Level 4 and Level 5. Our season ended in February, right before COVID hit in March. The same week, we learned that state/regional meets were canceled and gymnastics gyms worldwide were closing. My team and I decided to FaceTime and keep up with our conditioning and stretching to stay in shape. We also joined weekly zooms to work out as a team. A few months later, gyms opened, and we could go back to what we love doing again. That was a great day, and I don't remember when I was out of the gym for that long. 

My sophomore season, I decided to try out high school gymnastics and see how that felt. I made the team and competed in most of the last ups, but as we got closer to the end of the season, I decided to go back to Wilmette for the following season. I got a coaching job at my club gym that same year,  and I started coaching gymnastics. I love coaching and teaching younger gymnasts gymnastics and sharing my passion for it. 

During my Junior season, I was back at Wilmette in early May.  In the summer, we trained for the level we wanted to compete in and we were gearing up for the season starting in December. I was Xcel Gold for this year and had some excellent routines. For the first time, my Beam and Floor were getting much better with the help of drills and reps. I  scored my first nine on beam and floor and made State. I ended my season competing at the Region 5 Regionals in Ohio and returned to the gym to prepare for the following season. 

My senior season, I was excited and ready to enjoy every minute since it was my last. I knew this season would be full of emotions, and I felt those throughout the season. 

The season started well. I qualified for state at the first meet, so that was awesome, and I did not need to stress about it anymore.  For the season, I added a new skill on the floor of my front handspring front that I landed at the first two meets and then I started having problems with it at practice but still did it at competitions. 

After the first few meets, I knew what I needed to return to the gym and work on. It was usually floor and beam since those were the two events I would usually fall on, but it has gotten much better these last few years. 

Let's fast forward to some of the highlights of this season, which were around December-April. I placed at every meet except one on Bars. I was the Bars champion twice at back-to-back meets and scored my highest bars score of a 9.725. 

In April I had my state meet, and I did pretty well, but I missed making Region 5 Regionals by .875. This disappointed me and felt like the most significant loss, not making it my last season. Still, I put the positive in the negative, which was getting a 9.1 on bars and placing 6th in the state, making my series on beam, landing my front handspring front, getting my 2nd highest All Around score, and sticking my vault. I came home from the meet and watched college gymnastics, which immensely helped. So inspiring and motivating athletes to watch.

As an athlete, I think about my story and how far I have come in the sport. I look up to multiple gymnasts, such as Simone Biles, Maggie Nichols, Carly Patterson, and Jordyn Wieber, who are accomplished gymnasts that I admire. These four gymnasts had different paths to their success. They overcame challenges, and not one gave up when things got hard. That is the part that inspires me the most. 

For example, Maggie Nichols did not make the 2016 Olympic team due to an injury. She could have decided to quit gymnastics and give up at that point. Still, she turned her devastation into being a winner at the University of Oklahoma and earned All-American honors. Simone Biles had the twisties at the last Olympic games and withdrew. She dared to know that it was not safe to compete. Simone did not want her performance to ruin the team's chance at a medal; she wanted her team to be successful. These gymnasts talk about not giving up, not quitting, being resilient, overcoming struggles and setbacks, and finding the positive in the negative. 

My story with gymnastics has brought success, too, despite my challenges. I found myself  looking back on my gymnastics story, how it all started, and realizing how far I came. It all started at a class at IK Gymnastics when I found my passion for this sport.  

Some Advice I would give to current and future gymnasts would be to have fun with gymnastics and your team; scores don't matter, it's the process that matters, it will take time, and you may not get it on the first, but always keep going with things that get hard.  

As of today, I am happy and proud to say that I am a 4X state qualifier, 1X regional qualifier, and a 4-time bar champion.