December 22, 2009

Hey Stanford Fans!

It's been another exciting week and the heart and will of SWG were once again tested. Between our finals and scrimmage against San Jose, our weekend was followed by Meet the Team and Habitat. After a long week of finals and scattered practices, Stanford scrimmaged against San Jose State where SWG did an amazing job. The energy and performance level was higher than ever as we let all our hard work show through. The very next day was our Meet the Team where little boys and girls and their parents get to come into the gym and watch some of the gymnastics we have been training. After we showed some bars, beam and tumble track, it was the little spectators turn to show us some gymnastics. Shelley led a very entertaining warm up with the "Evolution of Dance" and other quirky dance moves. After we played with the kids we ended the day with pizza and a movie. The movie selection was Up which is sweet because it’s a movie both kids and us can enjoy.

A few days later we did Habitat for Humanity where SWG builds new houses or fixes up old ones for the community. Our location this year was in Daly City and we started the day at 7 a.m. with the sun behind dark clouds. But the rain didn't stop us from getting down and dirty; some of us were shoveling gravel to level out the ground for foundation, others were helping set up rebar and tying them together, while girls were inside the house doing other various tasks. We were building what looked like a duplex house for two families, one family with a little girl that is 7 and another family with three boys of various ages.

Besides all the hard work we put in at the gym, we did enjoy the time spent at the hotel. It was my first time as a freshman to stay in a hotel with the whole team and it was an awesome experience. It was so nice to be able to hang out with one another so easily because we all stayed within a room away. Besides SWG, there was also the football team, basketball team and wrestling team staying there. It was cool to hang out with them and get to know some of them because we always go to football/basketball games and wrestling matches and now we know we will have them at our competitions too! Inside the gym this week we had many firsts. Skoly’s tumble on the hard floor for the first time doing a huge double back. Cat did a full bar routine for the first time that was nothing but beautiful. Weedge recently learned a Tkachev which she put into her bar routine for the first time.

This week flew by and now we are all heading home for a well-deserved break. Thanks for checking in and Go Card!

Have a happy holiday!

- Ming Ya Zhou