To get out of my own head in gymnastics by Ava

To get out of my own head in gymnastics by Ava - September 2022 Scholarship Essay

If I could give one piece of advice to my past self, it would be to get out of my own head in gymnastics. I began gymnastics when I was 2 years old and started to compete at age 7. I look back now at a lot of my competitions and I remember feeling so nervous and worried and often times let these emotions impact my meets. Gymnastics is not only a physical sport but a very mental one as well. I have to be conditioned for the events, but I need a strong mindset too. In the past, I spent more time in my own head worried about the end result, rather than having fun with the sport I loved so much. I often cried before I competed which was really just letting out pent up anxieties and nerves. I do feel this impacted many of my competitions.
If I could give advice to my past self I would tell myself this... "Ava, you are talented and you work hard, enjoy this sport, enjoy your competitions, and have fun, because you won't be able to do this forever.' I would tell myself this because I let too many days of my sport go on with a lot of worry, and I often forgot to enjoy the sport and remember why I love it so much.
Thank you, Ava Kelley