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Jasmine Jourdain, junior, girls gymnastics
“Jasmine Jourdain is a Union High School junior with immense talent and serious drive. She truly loves gymnastics and it comes across in the hard work she puts in at practice and her performance at meets. This year her determination earned her third place on vault at the Union County meet and second team all-county honors on vault, bars, floor and all-around. Beyond being a talented gymnast, she is also an honor roll student and a caring, supportive teammate.”
— Union gymnastics coach Heather Dube
What are you taking out of the current season?
There are many things you learn when you are on a team. What I took from this season is that if you stay positive then your attitude toward everything will change. Before this season I let my mistakes frustrate me and it affected my performances at practice. Now I try to learn from my mistakes more or move on and trust myself to fix it. This season also taught me that everything takes time.In the beginning of the season I had about three different mental blocks with my skills but after a lot of hard work and determination I was able to overcome these mental blocks and even compete them without any difficulty.
Is there a moment more memorable than others this season?
Yes, there were absolutely moments more memorable than others during this season. For the most part we have a good balance between fun and hard work. There is never a dull moment on this team. My most memorable moment with them is when we were trying to teach our teammate how to do her new skills. We all came together as a team and were laughing and helping out each other. I also love the moments where we will have open practices to work on whatever we want and everyone one will get new skills. On these days we tended to make our coaches proud because everyone will be very productive but also happy which makes the vibes in the gym great and enjoyable.
What’s your favorite apparatus?
To be honest I like all four events because they all bring something different and they have their own pros and cons, but if i had to choose one it will have to be bars. Bars is a lot of work and hard to advance on, but I love the challenge. It makes getting a new skill even more rewarding because you know how hard you worked for it.I also like bars because it is so fun to swing and be upside on so high off the ground. It’s like a rush.
Going into the next season, how much of a leadership role do you expect to have?
Going into next season, I feel like I will have a pretty big leadership role. Typically when you become a senior you become team captain and that is one thing that will boost how much of a leader I will be. I also feel like my role next season will be big because when we get new girls on the team I am the one who helps them with learning skills and teaching them techniques due to my many years of experience. Lastly, I feel like my fun and cheerful personality will help push the girls to do their best and maybe even make them want to be a little more cheerful, and I feel like that will play a big role in my leadership position.
What do you do other than school and gymnastics?
I take part in many extra curricular activities like club gymnastics, swing choir, mentoring groups and I also participated in stage crew, and I’m going to be participating in the upcoming fashion show. In my free time I like to get my work done, sing, dance, do gymnastics, watch Netflix and hang out with my friends.
What do you feel are some of your better qualities?
Some things about me is that I am a very jumpy, happy, fun person and I’m always there to cheer someone up. I’m full of energy, even off of little to no sleep because I hate being mad and I just love to look on the bright side of things, most of the time.
Other than gymnastics what is the best part of school?
I really enjoy school, and the reasoning for that is because of my great teachers and friends. I have great supportive and funny friends and without them my day will feel incomplete. My friends are the highlight of my whole day especially when I have a class with them. I also really enjoy my school days because of my funny and interactive teachers. I love the vibe they bring to the class and the joy they try to bring to the students. Overall, I love Union High School and I wouldn’t trade going there for anything because the students and teachers there are great and there is never a moment where I’m bored because of all the extracurricular activities that they have to offer.
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