Lessons Learned

As I said, three days later I would update! Kinda nice having a day to be able to take to myself and be able to reflect on the happenings of the last few days.

It's been a whirl-wind since our Team's Exhibition here in Riverside. To those of you who showed up, THANK YOU! We couldn't directly ask anyone to take off their own personal time to come watch Synchro, but we're thankful for those that did! With this being our second day off, I've come to enjoy the three days on, one day off. It almost gives me a way to really push hard for three straight days, and have a bit of time to recover and refuel.

Now if only I could refuel correctly...food options can be really hard to deal with as a hungry athlete craving nothing but carbs and sweets. Good thing I'm from Texas and I love my protein right?!

Anyways! Like with everything, there are lessons to be learned around every corner of life. So in lieu of our Exhbition (and the whole 3 days of training at a time...) here's 3 things I have learned!

1.

Teams have individuals who have different strengths and weaknesses. Each person within a team brings something to the table that no one else can. That's America. When we work together, we can move mountains. Work by yourself, and things won't work.

2.

That doesn't mean you have to go where you don't want to. It means you have to push yourself further than you think you can. I struggle with this daily. I don't like things to be difficult, to be hard. I don't enjoy breathing heavy, or my muscles burning, or turning down that dessert. I fail at being uncomfortable sometimes. I fail at pushing past what I want to do for what I should do. No one is perfect, but I have to try and get as close as possible. Being a good athlete means striving for perfection. Being a good person means striving for perfection. Perfection isn't the same for everyone, and it doesn't have to be impossible.

3.

Apologies for the small swear word, however, this is totally true. Synchronized Swimming isn't exactly recognized as an art form all the time, but is very similar to dance and life alike. As a soloist, I connect to the music so that those around me can connect to it as well. Sometimes it's not what everyone likes, sometimes you can't even connect to it yourself. What I have to do, is just dance. I can choose how I react to changes in tempo and music, and I can choose how I react to coaches corrections and scores from judges. You can't control what life throws at you, but you can control if an when you dodge. 

Stay tuned! We're in Riverside for 3 more training days, then we head to Toronto for the Pan American Games!!! I'll do my best to take pictures so you can feel like you're there as well. Wish us luck!

--Mary 

Flashback Friday - New York and US Opens

So as most of you have figured out, or are wishing to know, the US National Team and I are in Riverside for a training camp! We made it to our first day off, and how did we spend it? Watching Inside Out, Napping, and getting physio so our muscles can work well tomorrow when we head back to the pool. 

We're just that cool.

However, in the midst of training for Pan Ams, I though I would look back at the US Open that happened a few weeks ago, and let yall know how that went!

So first off, the Team only swam our Technical routine, and I debuted an extremely new Tech Solo. The Duet swam both their Technical and their Free routines.

While our swims weren't necessarily our best, we're proud of them. Now, we have to step up our game, and PUSH! It's all about the fight, the spirit, and that American Pride that reminds us what we have to do everyday in order to achieve the results we need.

Luckily for us, traveling to competitions doesn't just mean we get all glammed up in knox and glitter! We also get to wear normal clothing and go be tourists. So of course we went to Manhattan.

After that, we made the treck to SoHo, and in true athlete fashion, found the coffee shop. We went to Maman for some glorious tasting coffee, before making our way to a place we could purchase macaroons. While I didn't personally buy any, I took the chance for a photo op

Towards the end of our day, we stopped by Ground Zero. They've got a memorial set up with a gigantic square waterfall going down into the depths where the towers fell. The air is actually a bit eerie, even amidst the people taking pictures and waiting in line to go to the top of the Trade Center. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago, but I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news...do you?

Now it's on to a new story. We're training for the Pan American Games! This is basically a mini-Olympics for the American Continents. Last year was in Guadelajara, Mexico. This year is in Toronto, Canada.

Wish us Luck! I'll update during our day's off here in Riverside. We have an exhibition here tomorrow at 6pm that you can look forward to hearing about in my next post. The next one will be on Tuesday!

Until then!

--Mary

Back to the beginning

So for those who have wondered where I went, I've returned to represent USA at the Pan American Games and World Championships this summer! College has been crazy, and next semester I will be going into my Senior year. Oh how time flies. 

Speaking of time flying, its been requested that I write a blog post on how I got started in synchro. The real story. What made me fall in love with the sport? How did I choose to move to California for it? Did my parents always support my decision? What about how I've been treated as an athlete?

Well my friends, here we go. It's gonna be nice to take a walk down memory lane...

Unlike rumors, I did not start synchro from inside the womb. Although I'm sure my mother would disagree (Sorry Mom!) but I've been a swimmer my entire life. Everyone has heard the story of how my friend (and ironically first duet partner) Claire Evans took me to a summer try out session and I fell in love with the sport. It was pretty, it was powerful, and I could listen to music while doing stuff instead of just swimming up and down the lanes for a specific time goal. 

However, what most don't know (but probably assumed) is that I had always thought I was a mermaid. Ask almost any synchro swimmer, and THAT is why they stay with the sport. It's literally the closest thing you can get to being a real life mermaid and not give up your voice to walk on land. 

Thank you Ariel reference. The little Mermaid was a childhood favorite...after Aladdin. But that's besides the point. 

California was not one of my first decisions, as for the first 4 years of my career, I did both competitive swimming and synchronized swimming. The worlds were SUPER different and I loved them both in so many ways. When it came to what I needed to do to continue forward, I had to make a decision. Give up swimming and move California to train with what I believed was the best team in the country, or give up synchro and stay in Texas with the fastest times around. 

Then it came down to which I was better at. I could continuously be 2nd in the state of Texas, or 1st in the Country. Looking at it that way, the answer was simple. Note I said simple, not easy. 

I'm sure it was hard on my parents. They dropped everything and moved with me to California to support me, and I doubt it was their first idea of the type of world for their daughter to grow up in. I have to say though, I would not be able to be where I am today without them. It was a tough time transitioning from 2 hours every other day in Texas, to 6 hours EVERY day in California. Talk about a tired 14 year old girl coming home in tears because all she wanted to do was sleep. 

I also have my parents to thank for putting up with the drama I would bring home everyday. From normal girl drama, to coach issues, to simply being annoyed and exhausted...Seriously. Thank you. 

Being an athlete isn't always all glam and glory either. It's hard work and dedication. It's fun at practice and stressful at the same time. You have to balance sleep, and what to eat, and when to stretch, and take care of sore/injured muscles, and still spend time with your family. You do get used to it, but the initial transition can be a struggle, and some don't realize that our response of "I'm just tired..." when asked to go to a movie isn't is blowing you off, it really just means we can barely keep our eyes open and probably wouldn't be much fun anyways 😆

So from here, I'm on the plane to Pan Ams, and the Summer of travel and competitions begin. Representing the United States is a dream come true for any athlete, and I'm glad I get to wear the Red, White, and Blue. 

Until next time! Don't worry, the summer shall be FULL of posts...as long as I remember hahaha 

--Mary

 

What is your legacy?

For those of you looking for some magic lamp to rub, keep walking.

Of all the people in the world who believe they have their lives figured out and all the answers at their finger tips...I'm certainly not one of them.

Here I am, with more confusion than your most recent organic chemistry exam, and I'm planning to give you advice? Well...we all have to start somewhere don't we?

Most of us have no clue what to do with our lives. There are the few out there who had that epiphany when they were seven of how they wanted to become the next great world leader, and twenty years later were running for senator. If you are this person, I envy you. Best of luck to everything you plan on accomplishing over your life-time because dang it, you're going to do it.

Now, for people like me who have more trouble deciding what to eat for dinner than attempting to worry about what is going on ten, twenty, thirty years down the road. Here's the honest truth. We exist to do things. Some of these things are important, and some not so much. The important ones give light to meaning and happiness...the others are just fillers between important things.

Do me a favor...answer these questions. As I write this, I don't even know the answers to some of them. Answer them honestly, you may be surprised what you find.

"What do you do now, that your younger self would cry to know you had given up?"

How many people out there can think back to their 6 year old self and wish they still had that kind of imagination? When I was younger, I used to draw. I would draw for hours, and when I got bored of drawing I would write stories. Sometimes I even drew pictures for the characters in the stories.

I stopped writing one day...I'm not even sure why. Maybe this is why I picked up a blog. Although we all see how consistent that has been. But when I do write, I enjoy it. When I do pick up a pencil and attempt to draw something that looks semi-descent, I love it.

The funny thing is, if I had a time machine and my younger self found out I stopped writing because "I wasn't good at it" or "I can't make money doing that" I can honestly say my younger self would cry.

Always enjoy what you're doing. Just because you're not making a living with it doesn't mean you have to give it up.

"What makes you forget the most basic of functions?"

But really? What can you get so into, that you forget to eat?

This is a problem now-a-days with cell phones, video games, and Facebook. Although that isn't quite the mindless forgetfulness I mean.

I used to read. A lot. When I say a lot, I mean I wouldn't sleep some nights even though I had practice the next day, or a test to do. I loved the fantasy world of magic and unknown creatures. I would sit in my bed with nothing but a small flashlight and read Harry Potter, books till my eyes closed of their own accord. I had a competition with my teammates (and sometimes my coach!) of making sure we read a certain amount so that we could talk about it the next day. I never wanted to fall behind. Besides, if I could just get ONE more page, I'd know more than my friends at practice did, and I would have knowledge they didn't.

I've always been competitive. Maybe that's what makes you tick, but maybe it's organizing things, teaching, or solving puzzles. Whatever it is, don't look EXACTLY at what you're doing. Look at the principles you learned. They can easily be put to work somewhere else.

"When's the last time you embarrassed yourself?"

Alright. Stay with me on this one. To be able to do something important, you must be good at it.
To be good at something, you must first have no idea what you're doing.
When you don't know what you're doing, everything sucks.
When everything sucks, you consistently embarrass yourself in some way, shape, or form trying to do the thing you want to get better at.

Embarrassment is something no one likes to do, because as stated before: It sucks.

So how do you get around it? You don't. You want praise, you want glory. But before all of that comes that awkward time of uncomfortable-ness that we all try to avoid.

Right now, you want to do something. It's something you've always wanted to do, but you still don't do it.

"But I have my reasons!" you say.

But what are they? If they have anything to do with what others think, you've already lost.
However, if they're things like "Spending time with my family is more important than starting a business right now" or "I could probably spend all day surfing pinterest, but my grades are more important to me" well then that's okay.

Things that are meant to be important, are unique, and sometimes unconventional. Therefore, to make them happen, embarrassment is going to happen. Embrace it!

Yes, it's scary. But anything worth doing most of the time is terrifying.
Disclaimer: Unless that thing is similar to jumping out of a plane with no a parachute...in no way is this a good idea. You have a right to be terrified by this. Don't do it. 


"If money was no object...what would you do?"

I wish I had an answer to this. My boyfriend asks me this question every time we go on a road trip longer than twenty minutes. It's a seemingly simple question, but it is jam PACKED with meaning.

My Boyfriend has a dream. He's explained this elaborate plan of one thing that leads to another and how this would lead to that and in the end he would make a difference in this world.

All I can ever come back with is "Well, I'd like to go to Greece one day..." Really?! That's all I can say? One day I'll find my answer. One day, I will find and understand what I want my legacy to be.

On the other hand, if you think you have it figured out and you fantasize about friends and family going into detail about that one time you wrestled a gang of poachers to the ground with nothing but your bare hands just to save a wild rabbit from being trampled as it crossed the road...please tell me you're an animal activist and not just trying to impress other people. If the idea of what other people thought even crossed you're mind, you're not seeing the point.

Finding a "purpose" boils down to finding something bigger. Bigger than yourself. To find it all you have to get off the couch and do something about it.

Take the time to think beyond who you think you are, and imagine a world without yourself.

What have you discovered?


--Mary
P.s. One of these day's I'll learn to update something every week. Sometimes it just takes a while for something to come to my head! Any ideas or thoughts are always appreciated!!!

It's time to Look up -- Throwback warning!

Well here it is, the weekend before finals. We're slaving away in front of our computers, listening to music through our Dr. Dre headphones off a playlist of over a thousand songs on our phones. Plus, to keep in tune with the last post of "procrastination" here I am. Procrastinating studying for my Business Law and Financial Accounting finals. They're not till tuesday! I'll be fine...after I study for the Macroeconomics, World Religion and Organizational Behavior finals I have Monday and Wednesday...oh dear.

ANYWAYS! TO THE POST!!!

I'm calling myself and others out. I saw this video going around facebook a while back, and it's since fallen silent. However, I had saved it for some reason and now it's time for me to speak on it. 

Coming from someone who is writing a blog on the world wide web, we have access to technology like no one could have ever fathomed before. Sometimes I wonder though, what would it be like if we lost the use of all technology? Not in the sense of "lets all go to Hogwarts and become witches and wizards" although if that ever became an option I may be the first to give up my precious iPhone. I simply mean if all technology ceased to function...could we function at all?

Watch this video. Think about it. Then keep reading if you wish.

To avoid sounding like a completely hypocrite, I dare, and will at somepoint in time go 3 days without using my phone. This is a mere 72 hours without the portable communicator/map/dictionary/camera/game device that has become glued to our hands.

I might not make it out alive.

Goodness.

We really have become completely attached to these things haven't we?

If anyone knows me, I'm the WORST when it comes to my iPhone. It has basically become a part of my being, and anyone can reach me at (almost) any time of the day. It saves memories, it keeps me connected to family, it even gives me a chance to keep in touch, in real time, with someone I haven't seen face-to-face in over 15 years. Wow. Technology has really moved us forward in SO many ways...

But has it?

In all seriousness, what happened to our imaginations? At only 23 years old, I remember the fast expansion of cell-phones. However, what seems "old" to me isn't even the beginning. What happened to when we didn't need a cell phone to be happy?

As a kid, I had swimmer barbies, and fashion barbies, and doll houses and barbie cars...I was an only child gimme a break!...but I also would act out TV shows. There were real life and cartoons that my friends and I would become the characters (fighting over who got to be who obviously) and made capes from towels and magic wands out of a pencil with a ribbon tied to the end.

We played mermaids in the pool and called out the person who separated their feet and banned them to the shore line because they had broken mermaid law.

I loved my skip-it (even as a child I hated running). 

I played with rollie-pollie bugs and built them castles made of pebbles. Though they didn't seem to appreciate it very much...always crawling out of the corners and disappearing into the grass...

But how would you take a selfie?!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my water proof, drop proof, shatter resistant digital immediate viewing camera! Okay, love may be a strong word but it works in this situation. A friend of mine recently got a "New" camera. It prints out the photos for you RIGHT THERE and you don't even have to put them on your computer!!! NEATO! There's pictures of RANDOM things all over the walls now because the thing is so big she can't put it in her purse to forget she has it. It's really nifty.

...

Please tell me everyone caught the sarcasm.

It's basically the old Kodak camera, that prints out pictures that you have to wave around and hope there was enough flash to make it show up. Honestly, I'm all about the throwbacks. Anyone who has ever heard the music on my iPhone, don't be surprised if some old N*Sync shows up, and even less surprised when you hear a Beatles tune. The original one. Not remixed.

Woah.

But Seriously, take a minute out of your busy final studying schedule and just look at this video. It may open your eyes.

Let me know if anyone ACTUALLY does the challenge of going 3 days without your phone. I would say technology in general but...well I wouldn't want anyone to become a hermit and actually read a book for once. xD

Until next week!
--Mary

Procrastination at it's finest

Once again, here I am pointing out how AWFUL of a blogger I am when it comes to keeping things updated. I'm going to get better at this I promise. Once a week!
This WILL become the new norm.
This WILL become a habit that is part of me.
At least that's the aim.

How long has it been?

SEVEN MONTHS?!?!

Oh dear.

I've been slacking.

My boyfriend even put an alarm on my phone that goes off every other Saturday to remind me to make a blog post. Well folks, it's time I stop procrastinating, and start listening to that alarm!!!

Speaking of procrastination...

If it's facebook, or pinterest (guilty) or that new discount shopping site you just found that's keeping you from doing what you're supposed to be doing...well I have to say I understand. If I can find anything to do other than what needs to be done, I'm more than likely going to do that. 

Unfortunately, I've learned the hard way that just because you don't want to do something, doesn't make it go away. Just because you don't feel like doing the dishes, doesn't mean you'll have a clean bowl to eat out of in the next half an hour when you decide that devouring a bowl of cheerios you shouldn't be eating sounds a lot better than writing that paper due tomorrow morning which is the reason you thought about washing the dishes in the first place. It's a dangerous cycle.

We've all been through it. I even downloaded one of those procrastinator apps for my computer some of which can be seen HERE 

Seriously. Check some of those out. They can be really helpful. or at the very least mildly entertaining.

For those of you reading this post, because you are procrastinating doing something else, congratulations. You've made it this far! Here's a picture of Gandalf drawn into a suede chair.

Don't ask where I found this picture.

Procrastination of a five page case study does wonders for finding random images for a blog post. *follows link provided above*

Let me know if there's ever anything y'all want to hear! I promise I'll update more.

Leave a comment!
--Mary 

Is it Summer yet?

I'm definitely not alone in wishing there was any possible way to skip finals week. Unfortunately, the genius idea of "just give me the grade I have and let me leave..." is one that hasn't quite worked in the education system. We do have to be tested on the information that was supposed to be drilled into our brains for the last 16 weeks...for some reason.

That being said, while waiting for my second final of the day, I've chosen to write a blog post. After 9 hours of straight studying at Starbucks on a Sunday, other than acquiring the belief that I deserve stock in Starbucks, my brain is as ready as it possibly can be.

Let's talk about surviving the dreaded "Finals Week" and maybe even touch on a few ways to maintain your sanity...if it's not lost already.

1: Plan Ahead 

The above plan will not work. Try not to leave everything until the last minute! Break up your work into manageable chunks, and give yourself plenty of time to get everything done so that you're not panicking 20 minutes before the exam.

My plan of studying for 9 hours straight yesterday? Yeah. Not a good idea. Talk about a headache...Lesson has definitely been learned...

2: Take regular, scheduled breaks

Seriously. I can't tell you how many times I've told myself I'm going to take a break after the next chapter, but by the time you finish the "chapter" it's 2am and there's no longer time for a break.

Goodness...

Take a break every 2 hours or so, and take it no matter if you've gotten 1 chapters done, or if you've barely turned the page. Do it! Don't look through other notes, don't sit and contemplate your grade, just take a break. 20 minutes of doing nothing finals related then returning to your work is a lot more efficient as a recharge than continuously staring at a computer screen and fighting your personal battery storage more than the one on your laptop...

3: Exercise...even if it's just a little

Everyone is looking at me like I've lost my mind at this moment, but I promise I'm not as crazy as I sound. When studying, all you want to do is cram in as much information of the last 16 weeks as you possibly can. The thing is, if you sit around for that long, imagine trying to sleep when your body is itching to keep moving. Athlete or not, exercise will not only get your mind off of your class schedule (or even let you go over it from memory instead of reading a book!) Even if it's just to go outside for a minute or so, it forces your body to move from one place to another.

Blood does need to get to your brain somehow...

5. SLEEP

I know. I know. "But I have all night to study!" or "I can't waste study time SLEEPING!!" The thing is, unless you sleep, your memory won't consolidate all that information you just shoved into your brain. When you're sleep deprived, you're less productive. When you're only thinking about how tired you are, there's less room for school information. Repeating that sleep is for the week or how you're a different form of human being that doesn't require sleep is not making it true.

It's only making you look crazy.

Go to sleep. Even if it's only for 3-5 hours. You'll feel a lot better, and you'll do better. Falling asleep on your 100 question test really is not the way to pass...I promise.

6. Don't get caught up in competition

Alright, so there's always that one person who complains about how they have stayed awake for the last 4 days straight on nothing but coffee and skittles making a million-bajillion flash cards.

This is not a challenge.

Do not accept it.

The moment you fall into this problem, you're chugging five-hour energies and buying stock in redbull while making flashcards that aren't even making sense anymore. When 5+4 starts to = Africa...It's time to throw in the towel. You don't need to win the award of "suffered the most while studying"

7. Don't become a recluse.

Do hang out with your friends, but only those who will relax you and help you unwind. If that girl you always see is going to stress you out because she complains the entire time about how freaked out she is about the 3 finals she has tomorrow and she hasn't studied and she lost her phone charger so now she can't talk to her mother who just flew to Australia and might be attacked by rogue kangaroos and then there's her brother who won't shut up and she just needs to lock her self in her room and....

Yeah. You get the picture...They can wait till next week.

8: Don't. Freak. Out. 

Remember when this was the hardest thing you had to do? While I highly doubt any of your finals look like this uncolored butterfly, that's how finals need to be looked at. Grade's are definitely important, but don't lose your sanity over them. Always do your best, that's what really matters!

Good Luck!
--Mary