TicketsI come from a family of three girls where I am the middle child. My dad is a die-hard sports fan, and he did not let the fact that he only had girls hold him back from making us all sports fans as well. My high school friends always watched a variety dramatic TV series but the only things I ever watched on TV were football, basketball, or baseball. Being raised to love sports and being a middle child made me extremely competitive. I always felt invisible compared to my other sisters but excelling in sports, originally gymnastics and now diving, always made me stand out.
I was a gymnast for over eight years before I started diving. I grew up spending more time at the gym than around my family. My teammates and coaches became a second family to me. When I started high school I decided I would no longer continue with gymnastics because of the wear and tear it had caused on my back, wrists, and knees, and the amount of time it required. Transitioning from gymnastics to diving was interesting at first because I had never been told to purposely land on my head before, but once I got past that it was a breeze. I still miss gymnastics and the bond my team had, but I am forever grateful for the opportunities I have gotten as a diver and the amazing people I have met along the way.
While doing gymnastics for eight years and diving for almost six now, I've had lots of wear and tear on my body but I have never had an injury that kept me out for more than a few practices. Despite never being injured, I have always let the fear of injury prevent me from growing to my full potential. That was all true until this summer when I sustained my first serious injury. I was practicing like any other day when I did a dive off of the three meter and came out too early. When I hit the water I somehow managed to rupture both my eardrums. For almost any other sport, an eardrum injury would have little effect on ability to practice but because water is not allowed in perforated eardrums, I had to stay out of the water for almost three months until both ears were fully healed. My time out of the water made me appreciate diving more than ever, and being injured made me realize that all the fears I built up in my head were a lot worse than what could ever actually happen. Now that I am allowed back in the pool, I approach diving with a "no fear" attitude and have already seen improvements in my dives!
I was a gymnast for over eight years before I started diving. I grew up spending more time at the gym than around my family. My teammates and coaches became a second family to me. When I started high school I decided I would no longer continue with gymnastics because of the wear and tear it had caused on my back, wrists, and knees, and the amount of time it required. Transitioning from gymnastics to diving was interesting at first because I had never been told to purposely land on my head before, but once I got past that it was a breeze. I still miss gymnastics and the bond my team had, but I am forever grateful for the opportunities I have gotten as a diver and the amazing people I have met along the way.
While doing gymnastics for eight years and diving for almost six now, I've had lots of wear and tear on my body but I have never had an injury that kept me out for more than a few practices. Despite never being injured, I have always let the fear of injury prevent me from growing to my full potential. That was all true until this summer when I sustained my first serious injury. I was practicing like any other day when I did a dive off of the three meter and came out too early. When I hit the water I somehow managed to rupture both my eardrums. For almost any other sport, an eardrum injury would have little effect on ability to practice but because water is not allowed in perforated eardrums, I had to stay out of the water for almost three months until both ears were fully healed. My time out of the water made me appreciate diving more than ever, and being injured made me realize that all the fears I built up in my head were a lot worse than what could ever actually happen. Now that I am allowed back in the pool, I approach diving with a "no fear" attitude and have already seen improvements in my dives!