Spring Break
Lift full of laundry
Olivia Vivian
Issue date: 2/13/09 Section: Sports
After the 2008 Olympics, I imagined I would be done with gymnastics and go to a university. That was until my parents told me I was paying for my own study at "uni." Athletic scholarship at OSU, here I come…
If I could do gymnastics for the rest of my life, I would; unfortunately, there's only so much skin I have left for the bars to rip off my hands! That and our sport doesn't go pro or offer huge dollars, so the time comes when one must get an education. This scholarship allows me to do the sport I love and get an education at the same time. If I was back in Australia, I would be doing one or the other - not both.
I would also be attending a university that is IN the town. Instead, I'm in a university that IS the town. You all know what I'm talking about. Corvallis is basically a town run by students! During winter break, this place was deserted.
I stayed here for the first week of winter break for training, and I felt like the only student living in my dorm complex. But I can always find a positive in every situation. The upside to this situation was the laundry room in the basement was available whenever I needed it.
Now that we are well into another term, the laundry room is always busy. It got so bad last week that I put off my washing for ages. I wore everything in my wardrobe because I didn't want to do my washing. I finally gave in a couple of days ago and went down there with a laundry load so big, my mesh-like laundry basket was splitting at the seams.
I took up four of the six washing machines and then the dryers after that. After that long, annoying process, I stuffed my laundry basket with all my dry clothes and towels. After being washed and dried, my towels were all fluffy and full of life again. The problem with that was they took up even more room in my fragile basket.
Can you tell where I'm going with this?
While I was in the elevator going up to my floor, my basket burst open and out flowed all of my washing. Undies, socks, and bras seemed to cover the floor of the lift. When I thought things couldn't get worse, whilst I was moving my laundry out onto my level, the elevator doors closed and the lift went to another floor. So as my undies took a ride in the elevator, I piled up my clothes and waited for my belongings to return to me.
It was embarrassing, but all's well that ends well. And I will never wait so long to do laundry again.
This is what it's all about though. Getting these life lessons to help us mature into responsible adults. Clearly, I have many to learn as I can't even master laundry. But living here on my own without the support of my family really gives me no choice but to learn these lessons.
I'm glad I decided to come on a new journey here. I've realized that I'm not finished with gymnastics, and although I'm not exactly enjoying the education part, it's all good for me.
Olivia Vivian, OSU gymnastics
sports@dailybarometer.com
If I could do gymnastics for the rest of my life, I would; unfortunately, there's only so much skin I have left for the bars to rip off my hands! That and our sport doesn't go pro or offer huge dollars, so the time comes when one must get an education. This scholarship allows me to do the sport I love and get an education at the same time. If I was back in Australia, I would be doing one or the other - not both.
I would also be attending a university that is IN the town. Instead, I'm in a university that IS the town. You all know what I'm talking about. Corvallis is basically a town run by students! During winter break, this place was deserted.
I stayed here for the first week of winter break for training, and I felt like the only student living in my dorm complex. But I can always find a positive in every situation. The upside to this situation was the laundry room in the basement was available whenever I needed it.
Now that we are well into another term, the laundry room is always busy. It got so bad last week that I put off my washing for ages. I wore everything in my wardrobe because I didn't want to do my washing. I finally gave in a couple of days ago and went down there with a laundry load so big, my mesh-like laundry basket was splitting at the seams.
I took up four of the six washing machines and then the dryers after that. After that long, annoying process, I stuffed my laundry basket with all my dry clothes and towels. After being washed and dried, my towels were all fluffy and full of life again. The problem with that was they took up even more room in my fragile basket.
Can you tell where I'm going with this?
While I was in the elevator going up to my floor, my basket burst open and out flowed all of my washing. Undies, socks, and bras seemed to cover the floor of the lift. When I thought things couldn't get worse, whilst I was moving my laundry out onto my level, the elevator doors closed and the lift went to another floor. So as my undies took a ride in the elevator, I piled up my clothes and waited for my belongings to return to me.
It was embarrassing, but all's well that ends well. And I will never wait so long to do laundry again.
This is what it's all about though. Getting these life lessons to help us mature into responsible adults. Clearly, I have many to learn as I can't even master laundry. But living here on my own without the support of my family really gives me no choice but to learn these lessons.
I'm glad I decided to come on a new journey here. I've realized that I'm not finished with gymnastics, and although I'm not exactly enjoying the education part, it's all good for me.
Olivia Vivian, OSU gymnastics
sports@dailybarometer.com
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