“When I was younger I loved to watch the Olympics, I loved to watch gymnastics and see the competitors doing tricks/flips, the freedom they had. It’s a team sport even though its individual events, you get a lot of support from your team which I loved. So I told my parents that I wanted to get into it/give it a shot and it was the best choice I’ve made. When I first started I was probably about 6 or 7, quite young. I found it very empowering, being able just count on your own scores. Its just you and your apparatus. You have your own degree of difficulty even though you are competing against others. you’re always setting the bar for yourself and trying to get your personal best. For me it was a sport that allowed me to focus within myself. That’s why I fell in love with the sport. I found it was empowering to always challenge and push myself. You have teammates that were there to support you but really it’s just you out there. There’s no one else to count on, it’s just you on the bar. I did it until I was 14/15, I developed tendonitis in both my wrists, which I’m sure is very common for a sport like gymnastics. As well I had a lot of back problems and it just came to a point where I decided it wasn’t worth all the pain. It was one of the hardest decisions of my life, just stopping something that I loved.” – Michelle Huntley, Mental Health Advocate and Former Gymnast. (1/8)