Andreas Silberman
Update : January 4, 2011
The year 2010 came to a close, as did my year as an Iron Cross Foundation Scholarship recipient. I would like to thank you again for having granted me the scholarship and for the opportunity to represent the foundation. I still feel very honored to having been a part of it.
The money from the scholarship has been a great help to myself and my family. The first installment, received in February 2010, was used for training expenses and extra travel expenses for away meets. The second installment, once received, will also be used toward training expenses, season meet fees, and possibly travel expenses.
This past year was a good year for me, but there were also some obstacles that had to be overcome. After completing my first year as a level 10 and qualifying to regional’s, but not to nationals, I knew what I needed to work on to prepare for the next season. Over the summer I worked on new skills but also worked on improving those I already had. I also had to work with my changing body. I grew over the summer and this made things a bit challenging and more difficult as I had to make adjustments both physically and mentally. The final challenges were the changes at our gym, Redwood Empire Gymnastics. The gym is under new ownership which led to new rules and regulations and equipment changes, along with workout scheduling changes and new coaching staff. Fortunately for the boy’s team, my main coach, Dimitri, did not change. That would have been the most difficult to overcome, as I look up to him and appreciate all that he does for me.
The 2010-2011 competition season have just begum for me and I am looking to make it a successful season. On December 10, 2010, I competed in the season opener, hosted by my gym. I am working hard and hope to make it as far as possible this year, which would be nationals, not only for me, but also for my coach and family who are very supportive of me. Once the season comes to an end, I plan on helping assist in training some of our younger boys who are either still on preteam or just starting out on team. I did a little volunteering this past summer and enjoyed myself. It was fun to see the young boys trying and learning new skills. I hope to pass on my enjoyment and thrill of the sport of gymnastics to these boys and to watch them grow and excel at a sport I love to be in.
Finally, I would like to thank you again for believing in me and granting me the scholarship. I hope to one day be able to return the gratitude somehow, but for now I will continue to tell people about your foundation and what it has done for me and my family.
Past Updates
This year at Pacific Coast Classic, my team and
I had a great competition. I competed on the 19 of February as a
first year level 10.
I was very pleased with my overall achievement. At the beginning of the meet I set a goal for myself. I wanted to have a good meet with no more than one fall. It turned out that I had a better meet than I expected with no falls. It was my best meet of the season.
It was a very inspiring competition. After I competed I knew exactly what I needed for the upcoming season and future meets. I looked back at my routines and found improvements and mistakes I made all through my meet. During the upcoming weeks I plan to achieve new skills and add them to my current routines. Thanks to the Iron Cross Foundation I am able to continue with gymnastics and work hard to achieve new skills.
-Andreas Silberman
Below is DJ's essay on his Gymnastics Dreams.
(These
essays are submitted as part of the Scholarship application.)
My Gymnastics Dreams
By: DJ Corpuz
Essay on its way. . .
