Personal Statement
Ever since I can remember, I just loved climbing walls and monkey bars. That was part of my preschool’s mobile gym program. My first-grade teacher encouraged me to continue gymnastics. In middle school, I went to my sister’s high school football games. Once I saw the cheerleaders, I thought, “Wow, I want to fly in the air.” It looked extremely fun to me to use my gravity-defying gymnastics skills for a high school sport, and I couldn’t wait to try it out. As a previous competitive dancer and gymnast, I have obtained skills that set me apart from others. As a competitive gymnast, I learned to be diligent, persistent, and tenacious when we learn new gravity-defying skills. I always strive to have a smile on my face in order to encourage those around me throughout the day as well as be an approachable person. Another strength that I have is perseverance. I’ve suffered from many injuries that have taken me years to recover. Every time I get hurt, I don’t get upset and tell myself that life isn’t fair, instead, I see every injury as an opportunity to slow down and get stronger through recovery. As a flyer, I combine the elements of ballet and gymnastics to balance while needing to stay tight in the air. Within my team, I am one of few flyers who stunt with multiple base groups in one routine. My injuries have challenged me to build mental strength as a gymnast and cheerleader. I remind myself that “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” The harder I persevere, the more I grow in both my sport and my overall mindset. One of my proudest accomplishments is having been committed to the Junior Olympics track of gymnastics for 8 years. I’ve competed and won regional and state-level competitions, working through injuries of sprains, broken bones, and torn ligaments, and came back to compete at increasingly higher levels. On top of it all, I managed to take honors and AP classes, keep up with the work, and earn A’s and rarely B’s in those classes. Because I want to become a Physical Therapist, I changed to a high school that offers a Sports Therapy program. I’m also taking the science path in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program so I can prepare for college and the graduate DPT program. My freshman year was the hardest because of going online and starting at a new high school not knowing anyone. At the time, I was in both gymnastics and cheer/stunt at the same time. While doing that, I managed to earn straight A’s in all my classes.