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Olivia 1st Place

Olivia 1st Place


So, the Rhode Island State Gymnastics competition was held yesterday at Rhode Island College. My daughter was not really feeling well. As a matter of fact, she missed practice Friday night because she wasn’t feeling well. Plus, she hurt her ankle the other night at practice, and it was throbbing. So, I made a decision to let her rest overnight and skip practice. I felt like if Olivia didn’t learn her routine by now, then there was nothing she could be able to do the night before to make her learn a routine.
Well, as it turns out, i was right (gasp)!! She did very well at the State Competition. After a shaky start on vault (only 7.7), I was expecting Olivia to get down on herself and have it affect the rest of the competition. But, she surprised me. Remember the other day when I said our kids really do listen to us? Well, she listened. She shook it off and did not carry the bad score to her other events. Olivia adopted and put into action our family motto, which is, “I will.” I am happy to say that she had a great day and her beam performance was outstanding. She received a 9.47 on beam. It turns out, she won first place on beam. Good for Olivia!!!!
Olivia And Her Trophies

Olivia And Her Trophies


After the awards, the announcer said that the awards were concluded. Then, two seconds later, she said, “No, wait! There is one more award!” You can imagine after four hours sitting in uncomfortable chairs with bad lighting over them, people were making a mad dash for the door. The award was for the highest individual score on any event, regardless of age group. The award went to someone who scored a 9.47 on Balance Beam……Olivia Stephenson from Ocean State!!!! We were and are sooo proud. Of course, no one else heard the announcement….including Olivia–I had to find her and tell her that she won an award. I think the way they handled the award was piss poor. However, I could not be more proud of Olivia. And, you know what? Even if Olivia had not won anything, I would still be incredibly proud of her. Why? Because even though she started off shaky, she was able to put it behind her and excel on the rest of the events. She was able to focus and achieve her personal best. It’s great that she won, but, even more importantly, she achieved her personal best and you really can’t ask for more than that.
So, if you stumble, just get up. Put one foot in front of the other and plug on. You will get there. You may not get there in the manner you had expected or at the time you had planned, but you WILL get there. Just don’t give up. Aim for your personal best and block out everything else. You will achieve. Just remember my family mantra….”I will.”