Madison McPherson

For 16 years of my life, I spent most of my time outside of school inside the gym. I started gymnastics when I was 3 years old, and practiced 20+ hours a week from the time I turned 7. I had the opportunity to continue my gymnastics career here at the University of Georgia, but suffered a devastating shoulder injury only a short time after arriving on campus. Five long months of physical therapy and a steroid injection later, my shoulder had only gotten worse and I ended up having surgery. I didn't know at the time that my gymnastics career would shortly be coming to an end, but rather learned this as my shoulder failed to make much progress in the following months. Coming to terms with the fact that I would no longer be a gymnast was by far the most difficult challenge I've encountered thus far; I would no longer be able to do the thing I spent my whole life doing and the sport I credit the majority of who I am today to. In saying this, since being done with gymnastics, I have learned a lot about myself that I never had the chance to learn before and have had the chance to just relax each day and take everything in one day at a time; I never realized before how tense and rushed I always felt, as I always had something to do and somewhere to be everyday. It has been exciting to be able to experience new things and meet new people outside of athletics, and this whole journey has truly made me believe that life does go on, and it's never as bad as you think.