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Rediscovering Life Beyond Gymnastics

The author had a passion for gymnastics from a young age and dreamed of becoming an Olympian. As she got older, she realized this dream was unrealistic so pursued competing in college gymnastics instead. However, after her junior year of high school, she decided to quit gymnastics, which was difficult as it had defined her entire life up until that point. Through reflecting on her choice, she discovered new hobbies and passions outside of gymnastics and was able to find her true self.

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81 views2 pages

Rediscovering Life Beyond Gymnastics

The author had a passion for gymnastics from a young age and dreamed of becoming an Olympian. As she got older, she realized this dream was unrealistic so pursued competing in college gymnastics instead. However, after her junior year of high school, she decided to quit gymnastics, which was difficult as it had defined her entire life up until that point. Through reflecting on her choice, she discovered new hobbies and passions outside of gymnastics and was able to find her true self.

Uploaded by

api-594144827
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Ten years ago, I was a young girl with an extraordinary passion for gymnastics.

I dreamed of
becoming an Olympian, just like my then-idol, Shawn Johnson. As I progressed in age, I
realized becoming an Olympic athlete was unreasonable for me, so I became fond of a different
dream: competing in college gymnastics. Two years ago, I was pushing myself to become a
level 10 gymnast in hopes of earning a college scholarship. My six and fifteen year-old-selves
would never have foreseen giving up their gymnastics careers. However, shortly after my junior
year of high school, I decided to leave gymnastics behind, and it became a life-changing choice.

I had no idea how much I would lose when I decided to walk out on gymnastics. Gymnastics
was my entire life. It dictated my schedule, my education, and my relationships with others.
When I left my gym, I no longer saw my friends every day, I craved athletic validation from my
coaches, and I missed the good parts of gymnastics, which appeared very rarely during the last
months of my career. In the past, I envisioned myself, as a high school senior, driving to and
from practice every day, balancing school and athletics, and obtaining a scholarship from one of
my dream colleges. Life is not at all how I had envisioned it, and that's okay. Through long
hours of confusion and a lot of time spent reflecting, I reached a new level of personal growth. I
had a really hard time finding things to get involved in; it was like I had been placed in a
completely different body. I encouraged myself to finally understand who I was without
gymnastics. I learned new things about the girl I had become, such as hobbies and passions;
things I never had time to discover before. I rekindled my love for singing, became more
passionate about reading, and developed my fondness for writing.

For the longest time, I felt completely disconnected from the world without gymnastics. Losing
the one thing that gave me a sense of worth and purpose created a very large crack in my life
and my self-perception. Through it all, I learned there is never just one thing that defines
someone, and I determined that things may not always work out in the way you hope them to. It
was a long time before I could come to terms with my decision, and even now I sometimes find
myself having feelings of regret. However, I am forever grateful that the journey led me to
rediscover and rewrite the future chapters of my life story, making me a much healthier and
more secure individual. Gymnastics will always be a part of my mind and heart, but I am
relieved that I chose to place space between the sport and myself, as I was finally allowed to
find my true self beneath all my layers, and I couldn’t be more content.

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