My name is Brittany Parker and I’m a senior Government major. I can’t describe to you the bittersweet feeling that has already hit me as my final season of collegiate gymnastics approaches, although I really couldn’t ask for a better class or team than this one is shaping up to be!

We started this week by helping out with an age group meet (level 2-6) hosted in Magee Arena, which was a great success, and thanks to everyone who contributed! This week was filled with hard work and we saw everyone taking giant steps in the right direction. We had our first day of flipping vaults and had a little flight competition on beam to get our competitive juices flowing. And a big congratulations to the team because of the 15 people who are able to do an acro series on the high beam, 13 of us made them! I caught myself saying more than once this week that this is the best we have ever looked at this time of the year. That excites the coaches and us as well, and was a great start to the weekend as we had our annual upperclassmen (juniors and seniors) retreat at a nearby lake. We had such a great time, playing on the jet skis, roasting marshmallows (pictured), getting some quality time together, and everyone that was there would agree with me that we got a lot accomplished! It was satisfying to see this big group of girls (8 seniors and 3 juniors) come together as we did.

One of the tasks for the retreat is to come up with the team’s “motto” for the year, and I am excited to reveal that it is:

“Through our eyes, you see our hearts.”

We are all incredibly excited about our new saying that will serve as one of the backbones of our work together this year!

Make sure to check back and keep up with the 2008-09 team as our progress continues. We have our “September Challenge” coming up this week! We are excited to see where our new journey takes us together, and to bring everyone along with us!

Go Pioneers!

Brittany Parker
Senior