The sport gymnastics is not easy. It takes a lot of hard work, from an hour of running until you puke, to doing endless amounts of a skill until it’s perfected. I did gymnastics for about four years of my life, and they were by far the hardest. So when people say gymnastics isn’t hard, it really made me mad.

Starting in sixth grade I started to get unsure if I even liked the sport. I had practice every day of the week for 4 hours. I would go from school, to practice, then get home around 9 or 10. And the practice was non- stop hard work. There was never an easy day. The problem was, I didn’t want to quit, because what sport would I do next? So I wouldn’t tell my mom that I didn’t like gymnastics anymore.

In the summer time, one coach, named Daniel, started to get awfully mean. My teammates and I felt like it was almost getting to the point of child abuse. He would scream at you if you did something wrong, and even throw people to the floor.

One day when I was on bars, that coach was spotting me. The day before I had put in my 30 day notice, meaning that in 30 days my parents would stop paying and I could quit. I was doing my skill and then I barely touched his head because he leaned in too far. But to Daniel,  I “kicked” him hard. He dropped me into the foam pit. I knew that this wasn’t going to end well. He started screaming awful mean things at me but I was too afraid to listen. But I did hear him say “you have to leave.”

With tears running down my face I stumbled to the locker room and called my mom. When she arrived, I told her that there was no way I could go back. But of course I came the next day. I did not want to be known as a quitter.

The practices were now different, because I didn’t care anymore, and the days leading to the last practice came so quick. My last day was a little sad, but as soon as I left the gym I felt free. Like a prisoner being released from jail.

A few weeks after I quit I wanted to try a different sport. It worked out perfectly, because two girls that used to do gymnastics with me had been trying diving. I decided to give it a shot.

I nervously went to my first dive practice, not knowing at all if I’d enjoy it. The first few days I couldn’t tell if I liked it, but my friends told me that it gets so much better.

I am very thankful I decided to try diving. I haven’t been miserable and I finally have a life. From this sport I have made so many amazing friendships and great role that I love being with. Diving has taught me some lessons that will help me throughout life. The main thing I’ve learned is to never, ever give up, and to always have faith in yourself. Even if you’re scared or think the situation is impossible.

Diving has finally put my life on the right path. I have a great college diving career chance based on how I’m doing. If I wouldn’t of quit gymnastics, I would be spending my days at awfully hard practices and not having any fun. But now that I decided to try a new sport, I’m able to have a happy lifestyle spending my time with something that I’m good at and enjoy. Trying diving has changed how I think about hard situations.