Greetings fellow Centenary Gymnastics enthusiasts, it's senior Tavia Smith here with this week's gym talk. This past week was the first week of classes. The only thing that got me through the week, honestly, was knowing that we were about to have a long weekend already. We got into the groove of being actual students again for a few days before jumping right into our first 6 a.m. run at the track with my friends on Thursday and our first open gym of the season on Friday. There are no other people I would rather run with while the sun comes up… (tbh I'm not a morning person so I probably wouldn't be up before the sun on a regular basis if not for gymnastics, but you get what I'm saying. I love my people). It was also great to be able to flip with my friends again. They're so talented, and I can't wait to see what this season has in store.
After working so hard in the gym on Friday, a holiday came upon us, and we had the weekend off. Since we didn't have any obligations for school or gym this weekend, we got to just hang out with one another and have fun. Senior Elizabeth Sander (Liz to most) celebrated her 21st birthday on Sunday. I had my first Ki Mexico experience in her honor. I must say that if you ever find yourself in Shreveport and in need of a good taco, that's the place to be. There was a live singer there who sang Liz happy birthday over the mic in front of the entire restaurant. Her face was half happy, half mortified (but I can't feel bad for her because she literally asked her mom to tell him to sing). We also went to a backyard BBQ with a bunch of our teammates and other friends from school. It was a fusion between an LSU watch party and a birthday celebration. The highlight was the BBQ chicken. No worries Jackie… there wasn't any cake or anything �� Shout out to Emily, Penny, and Michael Sander for coming down all the way from Nebraska! It's always a joy getting to see my second family (sorry mom and dad. I'll see y'all in a few weeks ��). Baby Mack Pack (aka senior Mackenzie Packer's little sister) also made the trip from Longview to hang out with us for Labor Day weekend. We love you Kaylee <3
Some of my other teammates went off campus for the weekend. The three Freshmen all went down to south Louisiana. Senior Navia Jordan went to Dallas and watched a triathlon. Overall, I'd say we had a good, fun, relaxing weekend.
This morning, we kicked it back into gear with our first "sunrise service" of the semester. That is what my fellow seniors Aspen and Liz call 6 a.m. open gyms, just to clarify. We had a fun time getting back into the swing of things. Stay tuned for next week's gym talk courtesy of Navia Jordan. Catch y'all on the flip side.
~ Iced T
