A Cold Moment

By Jonda Hammons

When I was a sixth grader in California, I had gymnastic coaches named Jim and Meg. They were fantastic but unfortunately moved on to coach the college circuit. I was sad, but continued on. Move ahead seven years...as a high school senior, I didn't ever want to do gymnastics again. I had been competing in the sport for over 13 years and had recently burned out - my body and mind were mush. At this exact time, Jim and Meg, my former coaches, happened to get coaching jobs at the University of Minnesota. Jim asked me to take a recruiting trip to MN.
My moment was trying to figure out, should I go and do gymnastics at Minnesota or Utah State? Did I even want to compete anymore? I knew Jim and Meg so I went for Minnesota. My family said, "Have fun out east." And I thought, where is Minnesota?
Four years turned into eleven - I met my best friends in Minnesota. Equally important, I met my life partner. Who ever thought I'd marry a man from Wisconsin?