UCLA Gymnastics: Building Another Championship Season
October 14, 2010 | Gymnastics
Oct. 14, 2010
By Lauren Seligman
According to John Wooden, friendship is a necessary foundation for success. This leads to the question, "What defines friendship?" When we were five years old, friendship meant having someone to play with in the sandbox and to tie our shoes when we didn't know how. As we grew up, friendship became synonymous with secret-telling and staying up all night at sleepovers. Regardless of our age, friendships seem to always have three main characteristics: mutual respect, loyalty, and devotion. These characteristics provide us with the interdependence that allows us to reach our full potential.
The beginning of freshman year in college is a chaotic time. From packing everything you could possibly need into boxes, to moving in with a roommate you've never met, there is anxiety all around. Bruin freshman gymnasts Kassidy Kozai, Olivia Courtney, Samantha Peszek, and Sydney Sawa embraced moving across the country, and even across the Canadian border, to come to UCLA. With the exception of Sam and Olivia having met on the USA National Team, the four were strangers. You would never know this seeing them together today.
Miss Val calls them the Freshmen Pack, and it is quite obvious why. Kassidy, Olivia, Sam, and Sydney are inseparable on the UCLA campus. They live in the same dorm building, eat in the dining hall together, and take classes with one another. Since moving in for summer school in August, they have been attached at the hip. Interestingly, as individuals, the four couldn't have more different personalities. What brought them together to be such great friends? Over dinner, they laughingly admitted it was a music video they made when the four of them first moved into the dorms.
The freshmen credit their complete honesty with one another as the strength behind their friendship. From the beginning, they were open with one another and discussed the goals the four of them had for the upcoming year. The girls feel that they are 100% supportive of one another and know that they will always have each other's back inside and outside of the gym. Furthermore, they feel that their ability to give each other feedback and support in a non-coaching manner is a tremendous asset.
First and foremost, friendship is a contributing factor to success because it brings individuals together on a team. Be on the lookout for the freshmen this January when they take their friendship to the competition floor!
