About me

Hi my name is Kelly McCloskey and I am a student at Southern Methodist University. I have younger two younger brothers and a younger sister. I grew up in Florida and attended a small private school. However, these are just facts about me, they do not define who I am. Sometime I ask myself what events in my life have shaped me as a person. I mean I thought a lot about this when I was applying for colleges with all those self-expressive essays. However, being forced to think about it happened to be one the best elements of my college process. I realized that there are many experiences in your life that make you chose one thing over another but there are only a few defining experiences that shape you are as a person and make you, you and unique for the rest of your life. Personally, I believe that my career as a gymnast made me the person I am today. When I was a little girl I wanted to become a gymnast and be just like the girls in the Olympics. I started competing at four and had to quit my career at 15 due to back and wrist injuries. I was training to be a level nine gymnast which meant practice 6 days a week, four or five hours a day, and a certain meal schedule. Let me just say it wasn’t easy. However, I kept going at it because it was the sport I loved to do. I loved competing and feeling the satisfaction of winning. When all my friends were getting ready for the school dance I was at the gym practicing my floor routine over and over. I had such determination because I knew that when I competed I wanted to blow everyone away. There was something about competition that got my heart beating fast. After I would salute the judges and hear the clapping and cheering of my name, it was like nothing else mattered and I was on cloud nine. It is really hard to put into words what competing felt like and meant to me. But when I would stand on that podium my whole body would just be filled with excitement, happiness and chills. However, I was the youngest competitor at States and Regionals in my level year after year, which definitely took a toll on me. My hands were too little to wear grips on the uneven bars making my hands continuously rip and be blistered. My growth plates had not fully set in because I was so young and the impact of tumbling caused them horrific pain. Eventually my doctor forced me to quit because of my wrist and back injuries. He said that if I didn’t quit I would have problems and even permanent damage when I was older. That was the end of my career. Although I was heartbroken, I felt like my dreams had been crushed and all my hard work went to shit, looking back I am not sad at all. I realized that it made me become the person I am today. I am very driven and determined. If I put my mind to something I make it my goal to accomplish it. I am a very strong and independent person and a drive for competition. I owe so much of that to gymnastics.