Hey guys (or Ya'll as they say down here in the South!) My name is Maille (pronounced Molly) and I am a junior here at Centenary. This past week was a bit chaotic, but in a good way! Sunday practice was "Highlighter" day and we all dressed up in extremely bright colors. When we got to Floor we made a team goal stating that if all of the girls finished their assignment in the allotted time we would not have to swim after practice. Obviously this gave everyone a boost of energy and with commitment, determination, loud music and loud cheering we pulled it off! Although we all LOVE swimming -- ;0) -- it was nice to be rewarded with extra time to do either homework or sleep after gym was over.
If you were wondering how our bake sale went on Monday, it was a HUGE success! We sold out of everything! Puppy chow and Oreo balls were the most popular on campus. We had students and professors asking if there were any left throughout the day. We want to thank facilities for helping us with the tables and chairs they provided and also thank everyone who bought a goodie. Monday night we worked a fundraiser at Curtis Elementary School in Bossier City. This consisted of helping elementary kids take turns on moon bounces. It went very well and the team had a great time.
Due to some of the girls and Gretchen coming down with a cold we had one practice on Tuesday and one on Wednesday, opposed to two. For some reason everyone was extra hyper on Wednesday and we laughed for the majority of practice. These kinds of practices make me even more thankful for my team and my coach because it reminds me what gymnastics is all about; having fun. Of course we all finished our assignments as well which also proved that we can still get the job done while being a bit silly.
On Thursday we got a text from Gretchen about fifteen minutes before gym saying that she was still not feeling good so we were not having practice. Although we all felt terrible she was sick, it was another spontaneous text message and made us all relieved that we would have extra time to study for tests and time to catch up on homework and sleep (she is feeling much better now!) Whitney, Marisa, Stephanie and I traveled to Monroe, La on Saturday to work with little girls aspiring to be college gymnasts at Bayou Gymnastics. This was a great experience for not only the girls but us as well. We showed them how we warm up, stretch and condition and we got to take them to each event and see their routines as well as show them some of our skills. It's a great feeling to know that we are inspirations to future college gymnasts. We look forward to going there again.
In conclusion to this week's GymTalk I would also like to say that some of the injured girls are starting to slowly but surely improve each day and we cannot wait to have them back! I would also like to add that our program is becoming stronger every day. Although Gretchen has only been here about two months we have honestly improved not only as gymnasts but as people. Words cannot describe how much of a positive impact she has on our team. She truly is an inspiration to us all everyday and we are so thankful to have her here with us on this college journey! Next week is Fall Break and we have A LOT planned so get prepared for Alyssa's column!
Thanks for reading! -Maille
