Introduction to a Student Athlete

Hi everyone, my name is Randy Scharnhorst and I am currently a senior here at the University of Oklahoma and am in my last semester for finishing my degree in Health and Exercise Science. I am originally from Overland Park, Kansas, and have been attending the University of Oklahoma for the last three and a half years. The reason I chose to come to Oklahoma is because of a few important things. First of all, my girlfriend (current fiancée) was attending school at Oklahoma Baptist so this was a great option for me to be close to her. The second reason is that when first touring the campus, I felt like this was home.

source: Block O U. credit Wikimedia
BOOMER SOONER!

I had been on many college visits and this campus really felt comfortable and perfect for me. The third reason, and maybe the most important reason is that I wanted to continue my athletic career throughout college, and as a gymnast, there is no better place in the country than the University of Oklahoma. I have been doing competitive gymnastics for almost sixteen years now. As a kid, I had dreamed of being a gymnast here because the Men's Gymnastics program has always been the dominant team in the nation, and has even produced more than ten Olympians. When I was in high school, I did not receive much attention from college coaches and recruiters, and due to the fact that mens collegiate gymnastics currently only has 15 division 1 schools, my choices were very limited. As a senior in high school, I saw many of my friends throughout the country signing letters of intent and receiving athletic scholarships for many of these schools. I unfortunately was not good enough at the time to receive one. After graduating high school, I took a gap year in my academics to continue to train to try and receive an offer from a school. In January of 2016, (during my year off), I broke my arm at a competition and figured that I would have to give up on my dream of being a college gymnast. After a few months of rehab and deep thinking, I realized that I was not ready to be done. One of my coaches at the time mentioned that OU not only had one of the best NCAA teams in the country, but also had the best club team in the nation. So, in August of 2016, I began my journey as a student here, along with being a member of the mens club gymnastics team. As a member of this team, we would mimic the workouts and training style of the NCAA team, and this helped many members of the club team throughout the years be able to get a walk on spot onto the varsity team. My goal was set, and each day I would work as hard as I could so that I could eventually make this dream a reality. After two years with the club team, (and two national titles earned), I finally was ready to make the jump. The head coach approached me one day and told me that they had one extra spot on the roster that needed to be filled and I was the person he wanted to fill that spot. I accepted the spot and a week later, began training as a member on the best men's gymnastics team in the country. I was excited, motivated, and ready for whatever challenges would come my way. It was the week of the first meet, I had secured a line up spot (starting position) for the event that I trained, and during a morning workout, I met my first big hurdle. We were doing a cardio circuit, and when I finished the first set, I was exhausted and knew that I still had one more set to go. I tried to muster up some quick energy and strength and punched a very hard surface like a moron. I ended up breaking my right hand on the impact, and after finishing the second set of the circuit, I walked over to my trainer and had her look at it. I told her that it didn't hurt that bad and that I thought I could continue (it hurt really bad...). She didn't think it was broken at the time and told me to stop if there was any pain. I finished that practice and it was extremely swollen and bruised. I took some pain meds and went home to rest for the second practice. When I came back for the second practice, the swelling had gone down some and I figured I'd be good to go. I got through the workout, but by the end of it, my hand had almost doubled in size. I was in so much pain the entire practice, but I kept telling myself that I couldn't let the pain stop me. The next day, I went in for an x-ray, and that confirmed the break. I ended up missing the entire season, and it was all from a stupid mistake that I chose to make. They always say that the harder the lesson, the more you learn from it. From this mistake, I was able to learn a lot about myself. I have also taken the experience of riding the bench all year to use as fuel for me when I'm having a rough day of practice. I am extremely grateful for the experience because I was able to work my way back to a line up spot this season, and just finished competing at my first NCAA meet last weekend. As I go through this semester, I am beginning to look back at all the great times I have had with this sport and all the experiences it has brought me. I am so grateful for it all, and while I only have 90 days left of being a gymnast, I will always be grateful of the moments and opportunities my athletic career has brought to me.