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Aubree Baranowski Rachele Dalton English 1010 September 12, 2013 The Downfall of Achieving Greatness Gymnastics has been my passion for as long as I can remember. I have always wanted to train as a gymnast since my very first class. It all started when my godmother signed me up for gymnastics at age six. She noticed me doing cart-wheels, flips on the trampoline, climbing trees, and the fact that I loved to be thrown into the air by my family; I had no fear. My natural flexibility and surprising strength made the decision of whether or not I would be able to handle the intense work-outs and have the dedication to make it to the top, an easy one. The first day of gymnastics was amazing. My raw talent and natural athleticism was quickly harnessed. The coaches knew my talents were far too good to be in beginning gymnastics, so they bumped me up to a harder class that first day. Cameron was the first coach I remember because I was with him for more than a day, unlike with my other coaches. In his class I learned how to properly cart-wheel, do round-offs, handstands, headstands, back-walkovers, and many other foundational gymnastics moves. Cameron definitively taught me how hard work, and that dedication could take me as far as I wanted to go. However, as with my other coaches, I did not stay too long in his class.

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The day finally came where they were having girls try out for the level four team and Cameron had great faith that I could do it, even though I would be skipping several classes in between. They tested all the kids trying out in many different areas. They gauged our strength, endurance, flexibility, and the ability to pick up new tricks easily and quickly. After about an hour of testing, the team of coaches lined us up on the edge of the bluecarpeted spring floor. One coach said,On the count of three I want you all to do a back-handspring. None of us had ever attempted one of these, let alone by ourselves. I was up for the challenge. Many of the kids were frightened and I could see the look of fear in their eyes; Im sure my eyes showed determination and excitement. I knew the coaches would not challenge us with something that they knew we would not be able to accomplish. They knew that none of us would be able to do it by ourselves, but they wanted to see how well we would be able to try new things with little instruction. Three I was ready. At two, the adrenaline was undeniably soaring through my body. And one! I bounded backwards pushing off the floor with all my might, bent in half by my forced arch, and made contact with my hands on the floor. My feet came surprisingly fast and I bounced on my knees. The fact that I did not even land on my feet did not matter; I was on top of the world. The coaches stared at me with astonishment. I was the only one who actually made a full-on attempt. Most of the kids started going for it, but backed out early, making them land on their backsides. I later found out that the coaches normally challenged the aspiring team members by doing a back-hand-spring, but the athletes do not normally try it, out of fear.

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Luckily for me, I had no fear and was excited for the challenge. I was the exception. Fortunately I did not feel sore and I laughed it off that I had not completed the task fully. My adrenaline was so high that I did not even feel the blow to my knees, and I was able to stand up immediately with a huge grin on my face. By proving myself to the coaches during the tryouts for the team, they quickly placed me on the level three/four team. I had been doing gymnastics for under a year and I was already well on my way. Several of he girls on my new team had been training since they were three and little ole me had gotten to where they were in one sixth of that time. Because of my fast acceleration and being pushed ahead past easier classes so quickly, I did not have the same precision as the girls on my new team, but I definitely had the stamina and determination to compete with them and quickly move to their level. It was definitely hard being the new girl. The other young gymnasts were not too thrilled that I had joined their team because they had been working together for years and were pretty high up comparatively to the other teams. This made it a challenge to get to know all of them, and I soon found that if I tried extremely hard, and stayed under the radar, they started liking me more and more as we trained. I worked my tail off during class and quickly became the demonstrator for the girls because of my attention to detail and ability to listen closely. Being a perfectionist also helped me because I practiced every move dozens and dozens of times. I knew that by proving I was equal to my other teammates, they would be more accepting of me joining their team, as I was an obvious asset. In gymnastics it is all about competition. Defiant competitors made us all

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better athletes and stronger competitors, even if the challenges were coming from our own teammates. The most important thing about competing was to prove to our teammates, coaches, and most importantly to ourselves, that were constantly improving and are able to be in such a demanding sport. After about a year of rigorous practice and grueling workouts, our team tried for level five. We all made it. This is where I met the coach who left the biggest impression on my life, Jesse. She lead us to greatness and also unbeknownst to her, defeat. Practice was punishing: six pull-ups, 15 leg lifts, 30 super sit-ups, and 3-min handstands. It was demanding. Our practices evolved from two one-hour classes a week, to three threehour classes a week. We all started out strong and healthy, so this only pumped up our determination. Within one year, a few of the girls, including myself, were underweight and suffering from mild malnutrition. We were in peak physical condition, but since we were only ten, we did not know that we needed to eat more because we worked out more. Our parents were supportive of the coach and did not intervene in the training protocols. At age 10, I still fit into the size small t-shirts and shorts in the girls section at Macys, and weighed a mere 50 lbs. My parents gradually began to reject this obsessive addiction to gymnastics and weight control, and pressed me to get me out. I refused. Gymnastics was my life and my passion. I had missed out on so much over the years, and chose going to practice over family gettogethers and activities with friends. I finally reached my breaking point at age 12 because I was in constant pain and emotional turmoil, and knew I had to quit.

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After the two-week summer break before junior high, our coach gave us the big news. We were going to try out for level 6. She told us that in level 6 we needed to be at the gym for five hour-long practices, four days a week. Because of the gym workload, we would have to be homeschooled and they said they even have a teacher who would come in during stretching and conditioning to tutor us. This was the final straw, there was no way I was going to miss out on going to junior high for gymnastics. My resistance solicited snide comments from the girls whom I thought I was a friend with on the team. I was finally done with the weird looking body of tight skin over lean muscle with my bones sticking out. I had had it. I informed the girls and Jesse that I had to leave the team. After only being gone two weeks, I started getting harassing phone calls from Jesse. She told me how I was throwing my future away and how I was never going to live up to anything great if I didnt come back to the gym. After officially quitting and ignoring Jesses phone calls, in only a couple of months I actually grew three inches, and gained 30 pounds, I was definitely on the road to recovery. Sure, I miss gymnastics and still go to tumbling classes, but I learned so much about myself during my early gymnastics training. I learned to be independent and driven to achieve my goals. I learned about teamwork and personal drive. I achieved unbelievable success and received certificates and medals, which I still appreciate, even today. I am grateful for my experience, but am thankful that I knew when I needed to leave an environment that was killing me.