Something my mom taught me when I was little is that everything happens for a reason. Retiring was scary and it was tough to give up gymnastics, but so many great opportunities have come from it that I never expected. And those wouldn't have happened had I not accepted my injury as a way to try something new.

When it comes to gymnastics, you can be 30 points ahead going into that competition, but on that day, it's all about luck. It's about who has a good day, who stays healthy, it's how happy the judges are that day, there are so many different factors.

Stay strong. Stand up. Have a voice.

I'm trying to stay as calm as possible and focus one day at a time, but when reality sets in, I feel everything: anxiety, excitement, nerves, pressure and joy.

I started taking gymnastic classes when I was 3 years old.

My approach to gymnastics in Beijing was heavily based on the amount of difficulty I could do.

With literature, sometimes a book is presented in the media as being say, a Muslim story or an African story, when essentially it's a universal story which we can all relate to it, no matter what race or social background we come from