Origin
There was one point in my life where I wanted to be like Gabby Douglas. I wanted to be a good gymnast, just like her. I wanted to be home-schooled just like her. I wanted to train for the Olympics and win. But most importantly, I wanted to make my family proud.
As I grew up, I realized I couldn’t be Gabby Douglas. And that I preferred to just be Makayla Grison.
Emergence
I grew up walking on my hands almost every day. Ask my family; I barely stayed on my two feet. I always asked for handstand contests with my cousins and friends. It always ended with me holding the longest handstand. The day that I got my first back handspring was one of my best days yet. After that moment, I started to become an extreme tumbler. My life was filled with flips and tricks.
I tumbled all over my house. A handstand in the kitchen. A front walkover in the hallway. A backflip in the living room. An aerial in the basements. I also would tumble all the time outside of my house. When I saw grass fields, all I could think about was tumbling my butt off like the Jesse White Tumblers. I often tumbled in the snow as well. The coldness never phased me.
Doing things like flipping on my parent’s couches was something that was normal to me. You couldn’t take me anywhere without me doing a handstand at a random place. I often taught myself how to tumble off YouTube videos. I would watch YouTube videos all night long.
Furthermore, I was so dedicated; I begged my family members to buy me certain gymnastics equipment. My sister bought me a gymnastics mat for my 13th birthday. My dad bought me a huge trampoline for my 14th birthday.
The Gymnastics Life
It took my dad a while to enroll me in a gymnastics class. But once I was enrolled, I was too excited. I showed my new gymnastics coaches all of the things I knew. They couldn’t believe it when I told them I taught myself everything. Or that I never took a gymnastics class ever.
I received many medals and certificates for being in gymnastics. God knows I love my medals more than anything. I once won a handstand contest and a backhand spring contest. The more I won, the more I fell in love with gymnastics. But this changed quickly.
I was in gymnastics for about two years. Later, I quit when I realized there was nothing the coaches couldn’t teach me that I couldn’t teach myself. I enjoyed participating in the bars and beam aspect of gymnastics. But at the end of the day, I adored free tumbling more. It was at that moment; I had no passion for becoming Gabby Douglas in my life anymore.
The Cheerleading Life
After quitting gymnastics, I had to look for another way to keep myself active. I no longer wanted to go to the Olympics anymore, but I still loved tumbling. This is when I went to the sport that was the closest to gymnastics but necessarily wasn’t gymnastics — cheerleading.
I joined a cheer organization in 7th grade. Side note: I used to do cheer in 5th grade before I started gymnastics. I cheered at my middle school, which wasn’t sufficient. The only thing I knew about cheering was the tumbling aspect. Little did I know, I had much to learn.
My first day of cheerleading was extremely rough. I didn’t know the proper technique while the other girls did. I watched as most of the girls did things that I couldn’t. I felt like the odd one out and in that moment; I wanted to quit cheerleading.
It took me a while to trust the process of learning new things, such as techniques. I was so used to quitting when the times got rough. But my mother forced me to stay on the cheer team. And I’m glad that I did.
After being on the cheer squad for two years, I enhanced a new life. I was granted the opportunity to learn new things, meet new friends, and gain leadership skills. The cheer life changed my life; something I will never forget.
Gymnastics will always be a part of my life. But cheer holds something more special.
By Makayla Grison
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Rick Van Dyke’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License Featured
Inset Image Courtesy of Makayla Grison
