When did you begin your gymnastics career?

I started at 4 and stopped at 14.

What exactly happened that caused you to stop?

“I was a competitive gymnast for 10 years and was on the high bar. I did my dismount, which is a double backflip off the bar, and my grips got caught and let me go at a bad time. It let me go so that I went straight up and smacked my head on the bar.”

Did this injury affect your competitive activities?

“Yeah. I had a concussion for a year.”

What were the effects and symptoms you faced during that time period?

“Lights appear brighter and gave me headaches. I couldn’t focus on anything for longer than three seconds. I could barely read. Doing any physical activity made my head feel like it would explode. My mental state was wack because it was also 7th grade combined with a pretty bad head injury. And also everything annoyed me: bright lights, people talking, the fact I had to stay in a dark room for the first two weeks. It just sucked.”

How does your concussion affect you now? Does it affect your academics or communication with others?

“I get bad headaches whenever the season changes. It kind of stunted my focus levels for a couple of years, but I think it’s mostly better now. It hasn’t affected my communication with others. The not remembering names thing exists too. It’s not really that I can’t remember them, but it just takes way more effort than it should, and I’ll never remember people’s names the first time I meet them. I also have difficulty remembering things before the concussion. If someone mentions something I’ll remember it, but I wouldn’t be able to remember it on my own.”

Did you stop competing after that injury?

“I competed for another season. Then when I sprained my knee, I was just done with it. I was the best on my team, but after recovering from both injuries, I was two years behind everyone and I didn’t enjoy the sport anymore.”