00:01Hi, we are UCLA Gymnastics.
00:12Hi, we are UCLA Gymnastics.
00:15I'm Nia Dennis.
00:16I'm Shay Campbell.
00:17I'm Roxetta Frazier.
00:18I'm Sakai Wright.
00:19And we are here for the Essence Cover Shoot.
00:22I would say that it's just a great opportunity to be here.
00:33You know, like, we've never done anything like this before,
00:36and having this opportunity is just a great experience
00:40to get our feet wet, you know?
00:42So just coming here, being ourselves,
00:44and showing our personalities is just a great opportunity for us.
00:49It's a true honor to be here, and, like,
00:52today was really one of the best days of my life,
00:55and I just had so much fun.
01:02I would say that growing up in the sport of gymnastics,
01:04there wasn't a whole lot of representation of Black people.
01:07I was the only one in my group.
01:10I think that having more representation
01:13and seeing more people thrive that are, like,
01:16just any kind of race or ethnicity is amazing,
01:19and it's really encouraging for the young girls out there.
01:25And when it comes to those nasty comments about
01:28not even our gymnastics, but the way we look and appear,
01:33it's very easy to focus on the negatives
01:35instead of the millions of people
01:37who do support what we do and what we stand for.
01:40So I can just say that when it comes to ignorant people
01:43behind a computer that want to feel relevant,
01:47it's completely out of our control.
01:49But as human beings who are imperfect
01:52and do have toxic social media in our possession,
01:56we really do our best to know that we have an army of people
02:01who support us as women and as athletes
02:04and support Black excellence as a whole
02:06and truly blessed to have that at arm's reach.
02:10The key to life is knowing that you have absolutely no regrets
02:16when you leave this world.
02:18And what a better way to do that
02:20than know that you're stepping into your full self
02:22and being true to that,
02:24and you're grasping onto every opportunity
02:26and truly learning to love yourself as a whole, as an entity.
02:30And from head to toe, you are perfect, you are loved,
02:33you are important, and you are special.
02:35And there's days where I don't believe that about myself,
02:38and I know there's certainly days where everyone else in the world
02:41does not believe that about themselves either.
02:43But just know that you are so beautiful inside and out
02:47and you are trying your best every single day,
02:50and you are so incredibly appreciated.
02:52So just keep continuing to shine and to smile
02:56and to be kind to yourself.
02:59Like, even her just saying that just makes me feel good.
03:02Like, that's just how she does.
03:06Yeah.
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