Gabby Douglas
by Brooklyn from San Diego
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"Don't let a dark past, ruin a bright future."-unknown
Gabrielle Douglas was born on December 31, 1995. On that Sunday morning her mom almost didn't survive, there were many complications with her birth, just like how there was complications with Douglas's journey to the 2012 Summer Olympics. Douglas had a difficult childhood growing up with her two sisters and brother, while her father was in the air force and was never around to support Gabby or her family, her mother had financial problems almost all the time. She was introduced to gymnastics around the age of four by her older sister Arielle who was also a gymnast and competitive cheerleader. She then quickly caught on and was learning new skills very fast. Her mom soon realized that she had a gift and started her up in some classes, for none of them knew she would make it this far. Gabby Douglass had a dream and her family was willing to make the sacrifices for her so she could pursue her dream of going to the Olympics. Gabrielle Douglas used her humble attitude and faith to help her on the road to success. Without the strong mindset that she had built off of those two things she wouldn't have been able to be the first African American to win the individual all-around event and a team gold medal.
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Having a difficult time growing up caused Gabby Douglas to always stay humble through the blood, sweat, and tears of the exciting yet burdensome adventure of a lifetime. Going through these struggles in her childhood and start of her teen years, it helped her keep a strong mindset even during the most challenging days: "'I've learned how to stay humble. I don't want to get in over my head because when you do that it takes you off your game.'" Just like everyone else, sometimes it's hard to keep a good attitude and you might snap but there is always people there to pull you back up. Her mom was not going to let her give up, she told her to keep fighting because the work is worth it. At the age of 14 she moved to Iowa to start training full time with her coach Liang Chow. Liang Chow was not supportive of her at all, he was more concerned with looks rather than skill. '"You just have to be yourself and go full with confidence and be courageous."' He asked her to get a nose job but she respectfully declined after realizing that she was perfect the way she is. What Douglas had learned at that very moment is that the things that you hate the most about yourself is actually the most interesting part of who you are. Gabby Douglas has proved that staying proud of who you are, while keeping a humble attitude throughout life will make you much more successful rather than being selfish and arrogant to bring others down. Many feelings we have no control over, but faith is a choice and you can either choose to loose faith or you can have faith in what you believe in and anything will be possible. At some point in life you will be face to face with a two sided path and you won't know which path to take but one of those paths will reward you for staying and fighting: "'So many times in life we're faced with a choice: when a task becomes super difficult, will we flip out and quit, or will we stay focused and keep fighting?". "With strong faith in God and some serious determination, every dream is possible - especially if your mama refuses to let you fly home, fry chicken, and give up"' Douglas had to sacrifice her family and education to accomplish something that people can't even dream about. High level athletes need to have a strong state of mind when they are at their weakest points because the moment you say you can't, you will fail at what you have been working for. Douglas's mom was a very motivational person in her life and never let her give up on her dreams: '"My faith was tested," she explained. "I remember championships where I fell five times and I was going through an injury and I looked at my Mom and said why?"' She found the motivation to her faith somewhere in her heart to never give up even if she felt like she had to and she won the Olympics. Without having a tremendous amount of faith Gabby Douglas would have broken. With the help of her mom and God Douglass was able to accomplish something truly amazing.Gabby Douglas is one of many inspirational Heroes. She is my hero because she has shown me what it mean to be a true champion, and that it's not about the win it's about the things you go through, all the pain, all the hard work that takes you to that win. She continues to keep inspiring me and others to never give up. But if you do your loved ones will never let you fail whether it is friends, family, or the lord himself there will always be someone there for you. As long as you remember to have strong faith and be humble anything is possible.Works Cited
"What Leaders Can Learn From Gabby Douglas." Infinity Concepts What Leaders Can Learn
From Gabby Douglas Comments. N.p., 04 Aug. 2012. Web. 11 Feb. 2016
"Gabby Douglas: Hope and Inspiration for Black Girls Everywhere."Washington Post.
The Washington Post, n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2016.
Douglas, Gabrielle, and Michelle Burford. Grace, Gold and Glory: My Leap of Faith. N.p.: n.p.,
n.d. Print.
"Christian Broadcasting Network." Gabby Douglas: Grace, Gold, and Leaps of Faith. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2016.
"Gabby Douglas." Gale Biography in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Biography in Context. Web.
4 Feb. 2016.
"Grace, Gold & Glory: My Leap of Faith - Book Review." Grace, Gold & Glory: My Leap of
Faith Book Review. N.p., n.d. Web .
Page created on 2/14/2016 12:00:00 AM
Last edited 2/14/2016 12:00:00 AM
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