I’ve done gymnastics for as long as I can remember. I tried numerous times to find a different sport and each and every time I went back to gymnastics. As I got older, and more competitive I saw the other little girls at the gym grow up which made me sad. Once we got to level 6 you could start to help out the coaches with conditioning or just the actual classes, which I did. I remembered what it was like to watch the older girls doing flips, or kips on the bars while I was stuck doing cartwheels and pullovers. I would have been ecstatic as a 5-year-old having an older girl teach me. 

Whenever I got the opportunity to work at a meet or host a meet at our gym I loved it. Setting up the decorations and the leos/outfits you could purchase was so exciting to me, and the rest of the girls. I got to bond further with the people I spent most of the hours in the week with. I loved watching other people's and my teammates' routines and creativity. Other routines have always inspired my future routines and still do today. I loved sitting by the judges and seeing what critics they had because that made me better at the sport I loved. 

I tried to make gymnastics fun for everyone. The sport is extremely rigorous and can completely take a toll on your mental health, and physical health. I saw so many girls take it too far and end their careers way too quickly. I always made sure the younger girls knew the most important thing was love and passion. Whether they were level one or level ten, they had to love coming to practice, they had to love the meets, and they had to love everything about the sport to truly reach their full potential. I was never taught any of these lessons and I believe that led to me burning out when I was at my peak.I hope those young girls I spent 4 years of my life with will continue to love the sport, and continue on with kindness and mentoring.