- Dec 29, 2015
- 488
- 1,682
Hi everyone. I was just talking to my dd last night about how much her life has changed in the six months since she retired from gymnastics, and I thought would come say hi and give an update. Especially for kids who have done high level gym for a long time, the fears around "what next" can sometimes lead us to stay long after we should have left a gym or the sport altogether.
My dd is in 10th grade at a new high school this year. She was in an early release from school, six day a week gym at a high hours program and had no other extracurricular activities and no real school friends. Gym was her sport, but also her social life and her hobby. She retired as an injured level 9 in November.
Dd took a week to heal and then contact her high school's weight lifting coach. She walked in and became an immediate power-lifter, making the women's varsity team that day. She had never lifted a weight before in her life. She ended up being the Texas Region 2 6A all-around champion in her weight class and the only sophomore to go to state this year in powerlifting. She won the powerlifting award at her school's sport's banquet this year and she is the women's team captain for next year.
She also needed more classes to fill her school schedule now that she doesn't do off-campus release for gym. So the school put her in an advanced dance class. She has been a featured soloist in two recitals already and also is now the advanced team choreographer. She will continue with dance at school next year, too. The varsity drill team offered her a spot, but she declined, as she wants to focus on weight lifting and other options.
She decided to run for next year's junior class president last month, mostly just because she has never had the chance to do anything like that due to gym. And she won. So now she has to figure out what a class president does, lol.
And she's been accepted on next year's Academic Decathlon team.
She has also been on three dates. There was never time for boys before.
And she is taking driver's ed this summer. Yikes.
There is life after gymnastics. There is not just life after gym, but there is great life after gym. She is happier now than she ever really was in gymnastics, even when she was doing well in gymnastics. I'm so happy for her that she had the courage to decide it was time to move on.
My dd is in 10th grade at a new high school this year. She was in an early release from school, six day a week gym at a high hours program and had no other extracurricular activities and no real school friends. Gym was her sport, but also her social life and her hobby. She retired as an injured level 9 in November.
Dd took a week to heal and then contact her high school's weight lifting coach. She walked in and became an immediate power-lifter, making the women's varsity team that day. She had never lifted a weight before in her life. She ended up being the Texas Region 2 6A all-around champion in her weight class and the only sophomore to go to state this year in powerlifting. She won the powerlifting award at her school's sport's banquet this year and she is the women's team captain for next year.
She also needed more classes to fill her school schedule now that she doesn't do off-campus release for gym. So the school put her in an advanced dance class. She has been a featured soloist in two recitals already and also is now the advanced team choreographer. She will continue with dance at school next year, too. The varsity drill team offered her a spot, but she declined, as she wants to focus on weight lifting and other options.
She decided to run for next year's junior class president last month, mostly just because she has never had the chance to do anything like that due to gym. And she won. So now she has to figure out what a class president does, lol.
And she's been accepted on next year's Academic Decathlon team.
She has also been on three dates. There was never time for boys before.
And she is taking driver's ed this summer. Yikes.
There is life after gymnastics. There is not just life after gym, but there is great life after gym. She is happier now than she ever really was in gymnastics, even when she was doing well in gymnastics. I'm so happy for her that she had the courage to decide it was time to move on.
