College Admissions Essay: My Pursuit Of Gymnastics

I work as a gymnastics coach at Trousdell Gymnastics Center. It is a recreational center that provides programs for all Tallahassee residents, specializing in gymnastics and exercise. The goal of this organization is to provide a safe and affordable program that keeps the community fit and engaged. They offer recreational gymnastics classes for boys and girls of all ages. There are also preschool and kindergarten programs for the younger children. On the other end of the spectrum there are adult classes that teach gymnastics and overall fitness. In addition, the gym offers classes for children with special needs. Finally, Trousdell offers a competitive gymnastics program for exceptional boys and girls. Three Olympic gymnasts have come through this program. Trousdell Gymnastics Center is named after a former Tallahassee Parks and Recreation Director Randy Trousdell, a man passionate about his community and the health of its children. Since it’s opening over 60 years ago the gym has impacted 500,000 children’s lives. I coach recreational classes for girls ages seven to fifteen years old. I begin every class by leading an extensive stretch and then we go to the events of the day where I set up stations for gymnasts to practice different skills. I end every class with conditioning to help the gymnasts grow stronger so that they can perform skills successfully. Trousdell Gymnastics Center coaches have a responsibility to these children. It is our goal to make the two hours a

career through my high school years until an injury brought my dreams of being a competitive gymnast

“That’s so cute!” It is a disgusting phrase to hear as an athlete, to have all your dreams and desires wrapped up and defined as “cute”. No one says this to wrestlers or runners or swimmers. Yet it is a common reaction to the phrase, “I’m a figure skater”. It is as if all the frustration and falls and tears are ignored. No one realizes how much the act of being a figure skater has ingrained itself in my day to day life - that sometimes destructive drive to achieve, the need for perfection because it is the only acceptable outcome. Still, I am constantly summed up or written off as a girl with a “cute” hobby. Skating is not another trife hobby. Figure skating has become a repetitive gruel of day in-day out passion. To me, there is nothing “cute”

I grew up loving sports. My favorite sport has changed over the years, but the love for sports has always remained. Being an athletic trainer would allow me to stay involved with athletics and includes my love of science. Since I was a child I knew I wanted to be a scientist. Started off as veterinarian, then zoologist, then marine biologist but has always been in science. This football season has showed me the career path I want to take. I have recently been on a college visit and talked to a professor in the Kinesiology department. I know that there won't be a lot of free time in the program, so that means not a lot of time to work. This scholarship would allow me to continue my education, even with a limited income. I don't want to have

I have done gymnastics since I was a little girl but, I wasn't always in classes. When I was around four years old I loved jumping and flipping around the house. My parents thought as I grew up I got better, better, and better with all my hard work. Finally, when I was eleven years old they put me in classes at 20-mile athletic center. When you join gymnastics you get put in the lowest rec class which is called a beginner. Mike Billy, which was my gymnastics coach, taught me all I know. After being in beginner for a few months I learned all the basics and I was moved up to intermediate. To get into intermediate I had to have a mini tryout to see if I had all the skills and was ready for the move up

“I deserve the scholarship because I’m Hispanic, I’m the first generation in my family getting a bachelor degree, I have a 3.92 GPA, I come from a low-income home, I’ve participated in Varsity Soccer and Junior Varsity Cross Country, I am smart, and I am in need of money.” Those are the words that I would’ve said two years ago. And I find myself intrigued by the pride behind those words that sound self-centered and quite selfish. But what intrigues me the most is the fact that it was that same pride that ruled my life for many years. After initiating my fourth grade year in elementary, I was introduced to small bad themes, like cursing, cheating, and lying, that eventually grew and matured to become darker themes, like lust, hubris, selfishness, and hatred; all of that within me, because I was in a search of identity, purpose, and self-worth.

When I joined the Upper Bucks YMCA gymnastics team my freshmen year, I did not realize how much of my life would have changed. I took gymnastics classes ever since I was six, and even though the coaches would pester me about joining the team, I never felt the need to participate in gymnastics competitively. It wasn’t until I began to practice with the team girls that I realized how much I was missing out, and I never regret the day that I became a member of the Upper Bucks gymnastics team. Not only was it a place where I challenged my gymnast abilities, where I learned what it meant to be healthy, and where I discovered the thrills of competition, but it is a place that I call my second home. I met girls of all ages coming from different

Imagine walking on a four-inch piece of wood that is four feet off the ground, or flying through the air performing skills people only dream of doing. Gymnastics is a sport that taught me many things including, how to preserve through difficult situations and how to overcome my fears. I did gymnastics for ten years before I decided that the sport was too stressful and time consuming.

Some people think cheer is not a sport, to me it is my life. There is school cheer and competitive cheer, some prefer one over the other or they do both. School cheer is the yippie, go, go, go sideline chants. Competitive cheer is when a team of five or more create a two and half minute routine and compete against other teams on the same level. Both sports take huge dedication to the coaches and teammates.

This was me a year ago, someone who wished they could change the past. As an early adolescent I felt that I was not in control of my life. Gymnastics had that control. I started gymnastics at the age of 3 and rapidly progressed. From the age of 6 I was in the gym seventeen hours a week - even longer as I got older and was moved up to the higher levels. It was an environment where there was no crying, no whining and no quitting - we wanted to so badly, especially me. I was injured multiple times a week and my body ached, but still kept strong and did not quit. While homework was

First, of all, to start out, I just want to say that I can agree with your opinion, but when it comes to one or the other, I will pick the choice that I think is right, and the one I would like to pick. If you do not agree with me, that is totally fine, because you have your own opinion, and not everyone is going to choose the same answer, or same thing.

Ever since I was six, I have been doing gymnastics. I started when I said to my mother “I want to do that” with my high pitched little kid voice as I watched the gymnasts fly around the bar. My little sister had started me on the path of gymnastics because, ironically my sister wanted to do gymnastics and I never planned on it. As my mom parked the car, all I could see was this tall and large building made of bricks

I started ballet when I was 5 years old. At first I did not want to join ballet. But my mom forced me to join. When I tried out, I was really enjoying the class. But I did not want to show that I did enjoy it.

My sports career started before I was in kindergarten. My family and I were sitting at the dinner table. Excited, I asked my family if they could teach me how to play the game of football. Since they had agreed, I ate my food as quick as I could and put my shoes on to go outside. Then, the rest of my family came outside to our big front yard. I had not realized it at the time, but this was about to be the most important moment in my sports career.

At the age of three my parents decided to put me in gymnastics, I excelled immediately and after a couple months I entered into the pre-competitive program. My love for gymnastics continued and I became a provincially ranked, high level gymnast until the age of fourteen when I shattered my ACL and meniscus in my knee which required surgery. However, my years of gymnastics taught me a great deal of skills that I carry with me to this day. Primarily, I learned exceptional self-discipline, time management, and balance (metaphorically and physically). Gymnastics is exhausting on the body and the mind as you need total cohesion of both to excel. During my peak, I was training five hours per practice, upwards of five days a week and during the summer I would train six hours a day, six days a week. Gymnastics taught me that if you want something badly enough you will work as hard and as long as it takes to reach your goals. After shattering my ACL I pushed to continue training and I competed in my final competition and was the provincial champion on the bars event for my age category. I refused to let this surgery end my career. Six months after the surgery, I joined a competitive cheerleading team who I competed with for three years. Cheerleading was very different for me because it required all of the skills I had learned from gymnastics and on top of that I had to learn how to work with a team. I believe gymnastics is a huge part of who I am and has helped me to become the