Hinojosa 1

Olivia Hinojosa
Mr. Munoz
English DC - 5th
11-20-14
Literacy Narrative- The Dream I Lost
My dream has always been to stand up in front of the whole world holding up that gold
medal. To hear the loud applause of the crowd as I feel the weight of the gold hitting my chest.
All my hard work would pay off in that very instant, the instant I became the best gymnast in the
world. Every hour I worked was for that one goal, that one moment. I started my life journey at
the age of five. I began as a dancer, and I trained more than twelve hours a week. As I became
more advanced, my dance teacher referred me to Gymnastics. She said that gymnastics would
help me increase to get more balance and flexibility in my dancing. If I became a gymnast I
would become a better dancer, so I immediately took on the challenge. Gymnastics would be my
new sport and i had to learn to love it. I actually did find the sport exhilarating, and I put more
and more focus on gymnastics as time went on. Giving all my time and energy into gymnastics, I
began to grow tired. My coaches would push me down into my splits until I cried in pain. I had
to train six hours a day as a 6 year old. After a while, I went in the gym kicking and screaming
every morning. My family kept telling me how good I was doing, so I continued challenging
myself to my core. Being yelled at, screamed at, pushed to extremes, only made me want to try
harder. After a while, I longed to be in the gym and do some hard workouts. It fulfilled me to be
doing a sport I hated so much. Maybe God heard the cries deep down in my soul, and i was
forced to quit. My family was packing up to move to Corpus Christi, Texas for my dads job.

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It was about two years until I got the courage and strength to step back in and join the
gymnastics world again. I had such an unshakable feeling to go back and train, the gym was
calling my name. Joining gymnastics again took a lot of convincing, but after being consistent in
my efforts, my parents let me. I was ten years old, training twenty hours a week. I got back into
the swing of things, and the dream to be an olympian came back to me. That Gold medal
screamed at me "Work Harder!" I pushed myself, Imoved up five levels in three years. I
probably spent all my middle school years in the gym. I sacrificed friendships, relationships, and
my social life. The gym was where I spent most of my time. I remember instances where my
friends stopped asking me to hang out. They automatically assumed that I had gymnastics
practice all the time, so they did not even bother inviting me places with them.. It broke my heart
to know that I could not even be a normal teenager because I was so dedicated to my sport. But
that sorrow did not stop me from pursuing my gymnastics dream. Every day I walked into the
gym, it was like I entered a whole new realm. To me the world outside would stop. During my
time at the gym, every afternoon, I felt like nothing mattered. When I was in the gym, it was me
and my sport. When I would come out, I realized how much life I was missing, but I didn't care.
The gym was the place where I was meant to be. I conquered my fears and learned a lot about
myself and life; gymnastics was my passion. Although the gym was my home, it was the place
where I found intense heartbreak.
I was twisted out of my comfort zone in more ways than one. I had to fly up in multiple
angles, praying that my feet hit the ground before my head. I was pushed until I cried for hours at
a time. And in the chaos of all of this, I suffered one of the hardest pains a child can endure, I
was sexually abused by my coach. The one person I had to trust with my life. I put my trust in
him to catch me when I fell, and he hurt me more than any crash landing ever has. It was the

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hardest moment in my life, to keep pushing. That Gold medal still staring at me in my dreams. I
got back up and started competing gymnastics again. I now had a heartrending reputation in the
gymnastics world. Every girl saw me as the one who was abused by my coach. Every time I
walked onto the competition floor, I got multiple stares and scowls. I never understood why I
was ridiculed for something so terrible that happened to me. The Gymnastics world can be a
critical place. Despite the pain and hardship it brought my team and I , I got out there, and did
what I did best. I performed and I reached for my Gold medal. I became the captain of my team,
and i led my team to State. Spending more than 20 hours a week together every day, my team
became like a family. We shared so many fears, hopes and dreams with each other, and we
longed to help each other reach our goals. I had gained a family, and together we spoke to the
community and showed how hard we perservered every day.
Despite all that, years have passed, thirteen to be exact. As I look at myself now, I realize
that I am no longer eligible for the olympics. I had to become an elite at age 13, and i missed that
by a lot. I am no longer young enough to train with Bela Karolyi or any of the famous coaches. I
am too tall to perform the hardest skills in Gymnastics. My bones are deteriorating and my
flexibility is not what it once was. I am never going to get that Gold medal. Gymnastics is
everything to me, and I am never even going to reach my goal. When I get older, I will stare at
those hundreds of medals, just hanging there on the wall, doing nothing for me. Taunting me
about the beautiful nightmare that I never fulfilled. Even though I will never reach my life goal
of making it into the Olympics, it is not the end. Because in my heart, the gym, filled with
handwork, love, and pain, is my beautiful gold medal. My gold medal, my short but fulfilling
career in Gymnastics taught me essential life skills. My gold medal gave me all I could ever need

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and want in life. Gymnastics taught me to always concentrate where I am going in life, when to
put my foot down, and when to leap for my dreams.