Sammi To 09/27/21

Personal Achievement Reflection

My personal achievement was winning first all-around in BC for gymnastics. It happened in 2016 after
one of my injuries. I know I am not the strongest on one or two events, but my scores on the other two
were enough for me to pull ahead.

It was important to me as two years before I had a bad injury that took me out the rest of the
year in 2014. The year after was tough because I was not able to perform skills I could previously do and
my executions were not up to my standards also. I felt frustrated and annoyed because I knew I could do
those skills, but my body was letting me down. I put in extra hours and trained that much harder. When I
won, the release of stress, and I became proud of myself. Realizing my challenging work and extra time
paid off made me feel more appreciative of myself and my capabilities. Seeing the beginning and result
reminded me why I tried so hard in the first place.

I learned that the five hours, five days a week was not useless or a waste of time. The failure taught me
that you always need to work to get what you want. Nothing is free, there is always a cost. The bigger
the want, the harder the work. I also developed perseverance and patience with myself and others. I
needed to be patient with my body and let it heal itself because pushing myself when I am not ready will
only hurt me in the future. I needed to push through my struggles and frustration with my injury and
coaches. I also learned that one moment or routine does not show your full potential. I did not make a
couple of teams because I was having an off day.

After many disappointments in myself, I agreed that I got to choose how I was seen. Like a lot of
other sports, you spend an exceedingly number of hours with your coach. This can lead to your coach
feeling like your success or failure reflects on them. It does, but only the way they teach. I learned that
no one else can take credit for my success and failures. If I fail then I learn and I fix what my mistakes
were, nobody will do it for me. If I succeed, no one can claim that they are the reason. I put in the time
and effort to get where I am. Therefore, knowing the feeling of accomplishment made me strive for it
every time I step onto that gym floor.

Lastly, the constant effort and training enforced a productive work ethic. It taught me to always
stay on task and stay organized because the only one who will suffer is yourself. Competing with tons of
people watching allowed me to work better under pressure. With all those people staring at you and
some waiting for you to fall, it becomes a valued skill to stay calm and collected and do hit your routines.
Along with many things in life, people tend to put tons of pressure on themselves. I learned that it is not
always helpful and it can cause more damage than good at the time. Letting myself make mistakes
helped me become more consistent with my learning. Overall, I am glad that I went through all of this
because if I had not, I would not be striving for my goals or wanting to improve.