Ethan opens up about why he made the tough decision to quit gymnastics, his pillars of support outside of gym and why meeting new people isn’t as tiring anymore.

So You Wanna Be An Athlete

Emma: Why did you quit gym? 

Ethan: Well, I felt like there were a lot more things I wanted to do in life. Like, go and meet new people, I guess priorities, my priorities changed. So, when I was in gym, of course, as I said, a lot of my mental strength would be on training. But I guess something really shifted in how I viewed double. 

And I wanted to meet new people, I want to spend more time with my friends, I wanted to pick up a new sport as well, because I just felt like I hit this barrier in gymnastics where I just couldn’t improve, ideally, as much as I wanted to, because of injuries, because of a lot of different things. So I guess that was really one thing that caused a decision. 

Emma: Because gymnastics was such a huge part of your life, how do you feel quitting impacted your sense of identity? 

Ethan: It definitely took a huge toll on enduring the first few months of me quitting. Since I quit in February, when I was still processing it, during March, and in April, I definitely was very down. And I really felt like I just threw away 11 years of my life. Going into the decision, I was told that I was going to feel this way. But I didn’t really see the consequences of how it could take a toll on how I mentally felt. It really did make me feel like I lost my identity. 

Emma: That was very recently then, do you feel like it’s something that you’re still working through? 

Ethan: Yeah, it’s definitely something I’m still working through. I’ve talked to many people about this. It’s a topic that I guess whenever people come to me, like, I see a person for the first time in the year, and I haven’t seen them since I quit gym. Yeah. And whenever you ask me about it, I guess it also gives me a platform to practice, and process for myself how I feel about it.

Emma: Do you feel like you came away from gymnastics with a strong community? 

Ethan: Yeah, definitely. I am still really in touch with all my teammates who have quit throughout the years. And even my teammates, who always stuck with me through thick and thin before I quit, I’m really in touch with them and we message on a daily basis. Yeah, and I think they’ve found one of my biggest pillars of support, even without gym. 

Emma: So you mentioned earlier that gym really did impact your social life. How do you feel it’s changed after?

Ethan: It’s definitely gotten a lot better. I’ve had a lot more opportunities to go out. I have a lot more energy. So whenever people ask me to go out, I’m just a lot more willing. And I’m also a lot more willing to meet new people. Because in general, I find meeting new people to be a very tiring task. But now that I don’t have gym, I guess that takes off the mental pressure, so I just feel more open to free up more.

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