University of Georgia Athletics
Noel Couch: The Blog Is Back!
May 23, 2011 | Gymnastics
May 23, 2011
The blog is back!! After a busy semester of school, season, dinners, traveling, banquets, and meetings I've finally had some time to sit back and fill you in. I'm sure you were kept well updated with the Gym Dog season either through the Georgiadogs website, facebook, twitter, or my personal favorite.. coming to the meets to see us in action! Our team is so blessed to have had so many wonderful fans attend our meets, both home and away, throughout the season. The newest edition to our fan base was our "Skins Team" who painted up for every meet spelling out words like "Gym Dog Swag" for the meet against Florida, "Seniors" for Senior night, and "Save the Tatas" for the Breast Cancer Pink Out meet! The passion and love that our fans show is unbelievable and we appreciate each person who support what we do.
I'm especially appreciative of the creative Ten-O Club members who put together scrapbooks for each of us and presented them to us at the end of the season. Judi Mason created my scrapbook again this year and it was above and beyond incredible! Let me just say that I have a Volume I and Volume II from this past year. She included pictures, articles, tickets, and a variety of other memorabilia. I was most impressed by the miniature "Noel's" she cut out to look like me and matched the leotards to the ones we wore for that particular meet. Like I said, incredible!
My spring semester of classes finished up very well and I was very excited to have summer knocking at the door. I had my last finals on Friday, May 6 and immediately jumped into the fun festivities. That night Hil, Mariel, McCool, Garrett, Sarah White (who just graduated and was our manager for 4 years), her sister Rachel, Kathleen Gates (a member of the volleyball team), and I ventured out to Atlanta to see the Zac Brown Band Concert. Now, I was not a huge country music fan and surprised Hil when I said "yes" after she asked me to join them. But, I couldn't turn down a fun night with these people. I decided to dress the part for this concert. I bought a pair of cowboy boots and wore the cowboy hat that Aunti Jo's friend, nicknamed the Urban Cowboy, had given me at our first meet in Denver. It was by no means "Jersey-style" but I think I did a pretty good job of rockin' the country girl look. We had a blast singing and dancing to the music all night and needless to say, I was sold on the country genre. I spent the night at Sarah's home in Alpharetta and the next day we made our way to Tifton, Ga, to attend Kate Bowers' (our operations coordinator) wedding. She looked beautiful on her special day and we enjoyed celebrating it with her.
I started the next week off by attending the end of the semester dinner held for the L.E.A.D. group I was inducted into in the fall. I was spending time working out in the gym and hanging out with the girls before everyone started going their separate ways for the summer. Graduation was held last weekend and I'm proud to say that Sarah, McCool, and Cass each earned their degrees after all the hard work they put into school over the years. Whether its graduation or simply going home for the summer we all stay in touch with each other and the memories we've created together will remain in our hearts forever. We wrapped up the weekend by watching exciting performances at tennis regionals and track and field SECs. Georgia sports and beautiful weather...what more could I ask for?!
I just embarked on my latest adventure… study abroad in Costa Rica! Shay and I boarded the plane Tuesday morning all packed, ready, and excited to start a new chapter in our journey. We intend to learn and embrace the opportunity we have, while leaving our own mark on the trip. We'll be traveling to various parts of Costa Rica and taking part in all different kinds of excursions while taking classes for Maymester. We have our cameras and computers so we'll be able to post pictures and updates about our adventures. And some additional exciting news.. Noel got a Twitter. Woo! You can follow me @JerseyGymdog6. Enjoy the warm weather, pool time, barbecues, beach, and all the wonderful things that come along with summer. Check back soon for the next blog. I'm sure I'll have some thrilling stories from Costa Rica! Adios!
Noel Couch, a native of Towaco, N.J., recently completed her second season as a member of the Georgia gymnastics team.
