Gymcat to Wildcat in one flip

Arizona Daily Wildcat Becky Bowers

However, I am a veteran when it comes to Wildcat athletics, holding the title "retired gymnast" since my eligibility to compete for the UA gymnastics team expired last year.

I stumbled into this job a newcomer, an amateur who did not know anyone. Instead of standing at the chalk tray running routines through my head before saluting to the judge, I found myself staring at the computer, questioning my editor about how many inches of copy he wants.

The person seated next to me is not my teammate, wearing a leotard, and asking me to set her board for her mount onto the beam. She's a coworker who lets me know I need to bold the name of any athlete I mention. Standard procedure.

All the sudden I crossed a line that doesn't just exist geographically along the Mall. Somewhere between the Wildcat newsroom and McKale Center floor, I underwent a transition. No longer am I the one the story is written about. A notebook has replaced the grips and I wondered, could creating the words be just as rewarding as being the focus of them?

I used to think reporters just wrote what they believed was important, feeling that a one-paragraph summary was enough to cover the big meet earlier that week. Then I sat down in the reporter's chair and learned a new word - budget. Amazing how a 500-word story can be cut down to a brief ten-liner because of lack of space given to the editor that day.

So, how could I relate to these...reporters? After all, one of these guys once reported I performed a "blindfold to the Geinger" as one of my skills in my bar routine. Now I am supposed to work alongside him, reminding him that the actual term is "blind full."

I discovered closed minds have a way of being opened quite simply with the shake of a hand. Never mind the fact that my new nickname became "Flipcat" as a tribute to the sport I spent six hours a day trying to perfect during my days as an elite gymnast.

The sports desk welcomed this former Gymcat with open arms and somewhere along the way, I developed friendships with a new group of students. I am thankful I slipped out from behind the gym walls and exposed myself to an experience built off respect and lighthearted humor.

I enjoy teasing Arlie Rahn, the former gymnastics reporter, about misquoting my trick three years ago. In turn, the rest of the staff humbles me by posting a comic strip of a cat being "flipped" in a cooking pan by a dog.

And, having my name placed above the article as opposed to in the article has not made the experience less rewarding for me. I'm just looking at it from the other side of the line.

Becky Bowers is a senior majoring in creative writing and former member of the UA gymnastics team.