The first Wednesday was our first gymnastics practice for club gymnastics here at EMU. So I slipped into a leotard for the first time since June, packed my duffle bag and marched over to Warner Gym C. I walked into about 50 strangers who were either stretching, or sitting around awkwardly.
So I set my stuff down, filled out a waiver form and started stretching. Shannon, who is the captain of the club, and one of my favorite people here at Eastern Michigan personally, sat us down in a circle. She made everyone tell their year, how long they have been doing gymnastics, and one interesting fact about them. Knowing Shannon was the captain, I made her my personal goal to become friends with her. Confession - I do that to a lot of people if I walk into a big group, I narrow down the people I want to be my friend, but Shannon was a good choice because she has turned out to be someone I look forward to practicing with all the time.
So I started out on bars because there were many new-timers on floor. While chalking up for the event, I asked Shannon questions, and told her about wanting a lot of people to leave. No offense to them, but I really needed to practice and a lot of them were in my way. She told me that they would clear out in a couple of weeks.
And she was right! The gym cleared out and it became a place to relieve stress. Even if I wasn't feeling well, it's a great place to come and nap, or even do homework.
The club team has become such an amazing group that I look forward to being with every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Quickly into the practices I started talking to Katie, who has now become - I would say - my best friend here on campus. Then there is Mason, the way we became friends was... interesting to say the least...
One day I noticed he was on twitter. So when I had no way of finding him on Facebook because I didn't know his last name, I went to twitter and typed in Mason #EMU and up popped his twitter account. That's how I found out his last name, so I went on Facebook and searched his full name and sent him a friend request. That first Friday, he messaged me and said:
So I set my stuff down, filled out a waiver form and started stretching. Shannon, who is the captain of the club, and one of my favorite people here at Eastern Michigan personally, sat us down in a circle. She made everyone tell their year, how long they have been doing gymnastics, and one interesting fact about them. Knowing Shannon was the captain, I made her my personal goal to become friends with her. Confession - I do that to a lot of people if I walk into a big group, I narrow down the people I want to be my friend, but Shannon was a good choice because she has turned out to be someone I look forward to practicing with all the time.
So I started out on bars because there were many new-timers on floor. While chalking up for the event, I asked Shannon questions, and told her about wanting a lot of people to leave. No offense to them, but I really needed to practice and a lot of them were in my way. She told me that they would clear out in a couple of weeks.
And she was right! The gym cleared out and it became a place to relieve stress. Even if I wasn't feeling well, it's a great place to come and nap, or even do homework.
The club team has become such an amazing group that I look forward to being with every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Quickly into the practices I started talking to Katie, who has now become - I would say - my best friend here on campus. Then there is Mason, the way we became friends was... interesting to say the least...
One day I noticed he was on twitter. So when I had no way of finding him on Facebook because I didn't know his last name, I went to twitter and typed in Mason #EMU and up popped his twitter account. That's how I found out his last name, so I went on Facebook and searched his full name and sent him a friend request. That first Friday, he messaged me and said:
I thought that was so sweet and thoughtful. Soon enough, Mason, Katie and I became pretty good friends. We started practicing together, and cheering each other on with new skills. There is no coach, so often times we would tell each other where we are messing up. The best part was, we started eating dinner together after practices. It was really nice to have someone different to hang out with other than group 72 all the time!
But that was how the EMU Gymnastics Club became a home away from home, and a great group of people to hang around with.
Next, I'm going to introduce Andrew and Ray, and how we came to know those two.
Until Then,
Bec
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