I spent my entire childhood in the gym. I was never anything overly spectacular but I loved every minute of it and didn't walk away from the sport until I had to... The passion that I had, and still do, for this sport is something that not many people understand but it is something that has taught me so much. 

Through this sport I learned how to be independent but also, how to work as a team and sincerely root for your competition. Unlike most organized team sports, gymnastics has a very unique dynamic, you are not only competing as a team but you are also competing for yourself which means that you are also competing against your own team mates. You want to do well for yourself and your team but you also want your competition to do well for the team too. It was a fine line that we walked as gymnasts but it taught us to be gracious in our losses and to want the best for others, even if it meant that they had defeated us. This sport also taught me how to be so determined, and so focused on my goals and not let anything get in the way, no matter how hard it may get and how grim the chances of succeeding are, never give up! I can't even begin to explain how much I took from this sport, and how all of these lessons can easily be applied to everyday life.

As I got older I realized that this wasn't something I would be able to keep up for long, with homework and the new found social life of high school, I had to make a choice, so I stepped away from the sport I loved to have the life of a teenager.I also realize just how important those years were in my life and how lucky I was to be surrounded by the people in that gym. I still took some private lessons here and there but at a certain point, your body just doesn't want to do those things anymore. The saddest part about the whole sport is that you peak out at such an early age... your prime years are between the ages of 15-18. Of course there are those gymnasts who have and do break those norms but look below at the average age of this years Olympic team, extremely young.

So from July 27th through August 12th you will be able to find me sitting on my couch rooting on the USA Gymnastics Olympic team...

From left to right...

Gabby Douglas: 16 years old (Specialty is All Around *every event*)

Alexandra Raisman: 18 years old (Specialties are Beam and Floor) 

Kyla Ross: 15 years old (Specialties are Bars and Beam)

Jordyn Wieber: 16 years old (Specialty is the All Around *every event*)

McKayla Maroney: 16 years old (Specialty is Vault)