Personal Narrative: My First Flipped Out Gymnastics

Have you ever been pushed to the point where you felt like you couldn’t go any further, like your body and mind would fall apart if pushed harder? In gymnastics, you are pushed to your mental and physical breaking point. When it comes time to compete, you have to make sure you know your routine and how to make it win the perfect 10. I, as a newly-budding 5th grader, knew this decently well, and my first gymnastics meet was definitely one for the memories. Flipped Out Gymnastics, located in Howell, was where I trained and competed as a level 5 gymnast. But, I wasn’t always an acrobat who had their over-extended splits and connected back handsprings. I started where everyone else starts, as a level 1, and worked my way up for over a year of …show more content…
Floor was my favorite part of competing. I remember standing off to the side, smiling, as I saluted the judges. Next, I stepped into my starting pose, and flowed with the music and my routine. Then, as I went into the ending pass, I gathered up all the courage I had and sprinted into a round-off, then two connected back handsprings, and stuck! My parents were so proud, I could hear them from the middle of the floor. That routine earned me a ribbon with the score ‘7.825’ on it, and I was content, even though I didn’t earn a medal. Winning isn’t always what matters most in a competition or sport. I sort of learned this the hard way. After the meet was over, we went to the award ceremony, where they handed out medals and trophies to the highest scorers. I went up to my family, and my sister gave me a funny look. “Where’s your medal, Hannah?” She questioned. I burst into tears, and my dad hugged me. “It’s okay, sweetie, you tried your hardest.” He reassured me. I realized then, that hey, it was the first meet in my entire life, and I worked so hard to get here, and had so much determination. All of it had definitely payed