My gymnastics club saved me in high school. I was a nerdy brainy kid who spent lunch time in the library. I was never part of the popular group, but my sophomore year, my social cachet changed all due to my gymnastics talent. At this time I was worked ng on a backflip on the balance beam and no one yet in my state of West Virginia had achieved this feat yet, not even Marylou Rhetton!
I remember one afternoon, working out in the gym. I was practicing my back flip on the balance beam. I was standing on the 4-inch beam, mentally focused on squaring my body firmly at the start and landing solidly in the center of the beam at the completion of the “trick.” The gym was quiet; I could hear no sounds. My eyes were planted firmly ahead as I spotted the light blue wall. A split second later as I hurled myself up and around and landed, I smiled to myself. Then I noticed a group of younger girls seated on the bleachers clapping and smiling. I realized I had become some kind of a star athlete to them.
From that moment on, I was considered a “jock” as well as a “brain.” Being known as an athlete changed my high school experience.
