Interviewer Information

Interviewer Name and Date: Maddy R 1-18-23

Name of Activity, Club, Sport: gymnastics
Link to Interview Audio:

Questions Asked need to be Bold - All audio to be transcribed within 24 hours

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Student Interview 1
Name of Interviewee on ID Melia Maclan
Name wished to be called in Book ^
Grade Level senior
Pronouns

Question 1: what is one skill/ moment you are most proud of?

Answer:I am most proud of my full front, it's something I thought I would never do cause I was scared of
twisting and every single time I twist. Do you think that affects you in gymnastics? Yeah, it makes me feel
like I can do a lot more than I feel I can do.

Question 2: what is the hardest thing you had to do/learn in gymnastics?

Answer:probably the hardest thing I had to learn was probably going back into gymnastics after I tore my ACL
and meniscus, so I think the whole sport itself was difficult. Do you think it challenged you to do better?
Yeah cause that was in my sophomore year and that was my first year of doing gymnastics. It genuinely scared
me but, I came back and I feel a lot stronger.

Question 3: what is your favorite skill?

Answer: a back tuck because it's the easiest thing for me to do.

Question 4: what benefits do you get from gymnastics?

Answer:is having a team that I can go to feeling like family. Cause I know for other teams I’ve played with I
dealt with a lot of drama, but this gymnastics team I feel like home. I feel very welcomed.
Question 5: what weakness did you have starting gymnastics but have recovered?

Answer:i think definitely jealousy after coming back there was a lot of people who have improved and I’ve been
sitting at home, recovering in therapy but I think after realizing that people do club and I haven’t done club, I
have to realize that where I am now is probably really strong for me.

Student Interviewee 2
Name of Interviewee on ID Emma Carlson
Name wished to be called in Book ^
Grade Level freshman
Pronouns

Question 1:

Answer:when I flipped my vault, because I struggled with it in the beginning of the season, then I just decided I
was gonna do it one day. I've been trying to do it for so long so I was happy that I did it.

Question 2:

Answer: mental blocks, I have a lot of mental blocks and getting through those are hard because it's all
mental and physical. I feel like I am good at gymnastics but it's harder mentally, a lot of stuff scares
you and you just have to get over it to do skills and improve.

Question 3:

Answer:I like back tumbling. I like flipping and I like the floor. It doesn't scare me I broke my ankle from it but it
always just been more of my favorite things.

Question 4:

Answer:I am athletic and I am healthy. It helps with running, conditioning, so I'm strong, staying fit.

Question 5:

Answer:it was definitely learning how to get coachable. I wasn't coachable for a long time. Then I realized that
I'm not gonna improve if I'm not coachable. So then I was able to stop giving Attitude. Learning how to take
corrections and learning it the way you’re supposed to take it. So I was like your going
 Student Interviewee 3
Name of Interviewee on ID Adi Vergara
Name wished to be called in Book ^
Grade Level jr
Pronouns

Question 1:

Answer: definitely landing my peak end tuck cause we have two vaults and the one I kinda fell on my knees
and the second one was just so proud cause I worked so hard

Question 2:

Answer:definitely not being afraid, just going for skills that are obviously scary. Trying something new you’re
not sure if your going to like hurt yourself or something like that

Question 3:

Answer:my giants on vault, you gotta spin circles and I like the feeling of being upside down.

Question 4:

Answer:just being on the team, I love all my teammates they are very supportive and after we compete we all
give each other hugs and I love everyone on the team so much

Question 5:

Answer: my mentality because I’ve been doing gymnastics my whole life, I’ve been doing it for twelve years so
I have had coaches who are so mean to me at a young age and doing gymnastics here at high school is such
a relief and it's a lot more self based

Original Story (DO NOT EDIT)

Standing still, flipping up into the air. landing on your feet, it can be scary or exhilarating. For the girls
gymnastics it is the most compelling feeling. Like watching the gymnastics olympics, for the grenadiers it feels
just as powerful. With the crowd cheering and the audience appealing to the bars, the floor, the beam, there's
so many flips and turns to be seen.

The very physical sport for the grenadiers team is very heartfelt to all the gymnasts. The goal of the team is to
provide their best selves for not only their audience but also themselves.
 A lot of benefits come with gymnastics, senior melia mclane says “I know for other teams I’ve played with I
dealt with a lot of drama, but this gymnastics team I feel like home. I feel very welcomed.” as well as
Freshman Emma Carlson says, “I am athletic and I am healthy, it helps with running, conditioning, so I'm
strong, staying fit”, feeling welcomed and staying fit are great factors to endure and that is exactly what our
gymnastics team is ready to provide.

Having mental blockage in sports or academics can be difficult when trying to gain success. However,
freshman Emma Carlson also says, “I wasn't coachable for a long time. Then I realized that i'm not gonna
improve if i'm not coachable”, due to her mental blockage it was difficult for her to succeed in gymnastics but
because of her strategies in breaking that blockage she was able to excel in gymnastics. A lot of girls on the
gymnastics team struggle with this but are keeping the eager spirit to achieve.

Copy/Story Needs Edit

Standing still, flipping up into the air and then landing on your feet can be scary or it can be exhilarating.
Sometimes it can be both at the same time.

For the girls gymnastics team, it is the most compelling feeling. With the crowd cheering, it can cause a lot of
mental pressure on top of physical demand.

“It's harder mentally, and a lot of skills scare you and you just have to get over it to improve,” Freshman Emma
Carlson said.

Despite this, there are still many benefits that come with gymnastics.

“I am more athletic and I am more healthy,” Carlson said. “It helps with running, conditioning, and I feel so
strong, so fit.”

Feeling welcomed and staying fit are great factors that help endure the challenges of the sport. Having mental
blocks in sports or academics can be difficult when trying to achieve, but support from teammates can help.

“I know for other teams I’ve played with I dealt with a lot of drama, but with this gymnastics team I feel like I
found a home,” Senior Melia McLane said. “I feel very welcomed.”