I Got This audiobook

"You can always change your circumstances in life if you put your mind to it."°•*⁀➷Laurie is so special to me. I've been a huge gymnastics fan for what feels like all my life, and I watched every moment she talked about in her book happen right in front of my eyes. I watched her grow up and become an absolute star. And I've never felt such second-hand pride in my life. She's got one of the biggest personalities in the world and she really felt like a little sister to me. There are so many things I related to about gymnastics. Holding in everything we feel, perfection, the need to push through even when we shouldn't. The pain of not being on the floor or rooting on your teammates on the sidelines. Gymnastics is a very singular sport with the mind games you play with yourself constantly, but it's also such a team sport. Without the backing of the people around you, there's no way to be great. Laurie touches on that so beautifully, and to hear her experiences with people she looks up to becoming her teammates and competing beside them. To hear her talk about the moment Aly came off the floor with tears in her eyes when she knew she clenched gold. It sounds exactly like something I've said a thousand times since 2016. I loved hearing more about her friendship with Simone, and especially her friendship with Val. Watching her come into herself on Dancing With the Stars has got to be one of the most special things I've ever watched. Especially because I truly watched her grow up. The first time I saw Laurie Hernandez, she was a vibrant, shiny, spectacular presence wowing everyone in the gymnastics world.Now, she's stepped into advertising. Found herself in ways I'm still trying to. And living a life with an optimism I strive to have. I can't wait to see what she does next. I hope she continues to spread her shine with us all.I absolutely teared up while writing this. There's just something about feeling seen in someone's words. Especially when you know it all happened, because you watched it.- Paige

A possible theme for this book is if you can dream it, you can do it! When Laurie was young, she saw a gymnast on TV and wanted to do it. Later, she met the requirements to be a gymnast, and she really wanted to go. Laurie really wanted to win a medal, and she ended up winning a gold medal!

Since I’m interested in other cultures than the WASP culture, of which I am a member, I picked up this book hoping to get insight into how a young woman from the United States with a name like Hernandez came to win gold at the Olympics. The thrust of this book was the personal journey of Laurie Hernandez, which I enjoyed greatly. She said just enough about her family, though, that I was able to learn what I wanted.I learned that her family is from Puerto Rico. This isn’t in the book, but I read that both sets of grandparents were from PR. I assume both her parents were born in the US. Since both parents speak Spanish fluently, I assume Spanish was spoken in their homes. Laurie doesn’t speak Spanish, so apparently English was spoken in her childhood home. The book says that Laurie’s mother had a rough childhood living in New York City. When she married she wanted her children to grow up in a better environment, so she and her husband moved to a pleasant city in New Jersey.My big question was: how does someone from another culture “make it” in the US? 1) The parents made sure the children learned English. 2) They made sure their children’s environment and surroundings were as “good” as possible, and 3) The parents had wonderful values about family, being “good” people, doing your best, getting a good education and supporting each other. This last one was made clear over and over in the book. Laurie would tell the reader about things her parents would say to her, how they guided her, what advice they would give, etc. The Hernandez children were exceptionally lucky!Aside from my burning question, this book is charming and geared toward inspiring young people to do achieve their goals. It is written for young adults, or even younger people. It is very readable.Personally, I had one issue with the book. Laurie says that to achieve your goals, all you have to do is dream big and work hard. I am proof that it’s not that easy. Nobody wanted to go to the Olympics as a swimmer more than me. Nobody worked harder than me, yet I never even made it to state championships, much less national championships, much less the Olympics!!!

I really liked this book. I liked hearing her stories about the fun things they did and things you would have never known happened without reading this book. I also thought it was cool to see things from her point of view. I liked to see what happened behind the scenes.

So I finished this book in one sitting and I LOVED IT. Laurie's personality was so prominent throughout the pages, which made the read all the more fantastic. She is so bubbly, positive, and just all around amazing! Laurie inspired me so much throughout her story and is definitely a role model to so many boys and girls all over the world. After reading this, I feel so empowered to get out and do something! Follow my dreams, pursue what I love, and be humble. Also, I did not realize how young she actually was! She is two days away from being a year older than me exactly and I cannot believe it. I'll be right back, I just gotta go work my butt off! Seriously, I loved reading about her story and thank you, Laurie, for putting yourself out there and following your dreams! I read this exactly when I needed it :)

My favorite part of this book was right after Laurie had her big knee surgery when she started stretching and lightly conditioning, I thought that it really went along with the theme of the book which is if you don't work for something, you will never reach your goals. Laurie's big goal was to go the the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics and that's what she did, but she did it with 11 long years of training, in the gym most of the day, 6 days a week, and being homeschooled.

From the moment I saw Laurie Hernandez in last year's Olympics I immediately thought of Mary Lou Retton. Not only does Laurie have a bubbly personality, she also has a deep faith. This book is about how she became an Olympic gold medalist and all the challenges in between. Recommended for all Laurie fans, including the younger fans. This book is written at a level for younger children as well.

I love this book and recommend it to anyone who loves sports and gymnastics(or anyone in general). I love how she told her journey of gymnastics, and that she achieved her goals the Olympics and Dancing with the stars. In general this is an amazing book!

We absolutely loved this book. Perfect to read to my kid and she was able to help read some of it too. It was just as fun to read as Laurie is to watch.

I think that this book was really good. It was positive and exciting, and it showed how you can overcome anything.

This is a nonfiction novel about an Olympian named Lauren Hernandez. Although that is her name on her birth credit she has many other nicknames such as Laurie or even the Human Emoji. She gets that name from how she expresses herself during her floor routine. As you read this book you follow her journeys as a gymnast and even her experience on Dancing with the Stars.My favorite part of this book was reading about how Lauren Hernandez became an amazing olympian and friends to her fellow team mates. Since this book was so good I definitely don't have a least favorite part of this book.- Sofia, Grade 7

Im not usually an autobiography kind of person but I came across this one and wanted to read it. I loved it, it was so inspirational and I think its a great book to read even if you don't do gymnastics.

Laurie Hernandez is a truly inspiring female author. Her story is one that everyone should get to read. I enjoy how hard she worked to accomplish what really mattered to her. Truly a great book.

I Got This: To Gold and Beyond by Lauren Hernandez.HarperCollins Children’s Books, HarperCollins New York, 2017.Absolutely, I enjoyed reading this book! I strongly recommend this to all readers, including both athletes and non-athletes.A teenager myself, I found this was a fun book to read. I could not stop smiling as I read especially when I discovered the meaning behind each emoji. There are many points I want to share, I will start by quoting from the introduction on page 2; “As you read these pages, I hope you’ll see that I had a dream and that by dedicating everything I had to it, I was able to achieve it. I believe wonderful things can happen for you, too.” Reading this certainly made me feel as though Laurie was talking to me. Also as an athlete, I can completely relate to this book. Laurie further writes; “Don’t let your fears stop you. There will be setbacks and disappointments--there always are--but there will also be lots of rewards.” Laurie’s words inspired me to not be afraid and to keep trying. The inspirational messages throughout this book will certainly be welcoming to all readers. Family is another important thing to Laurie. She begins by sharing with us how her family influenced her. The book includes photographs of her parents and siblings. Seeing family photos make this book even more relatable, like Laurie, my family is very important to me too. Laurie’s description of the hard work as she prepared for the many goals she set for her self, allows all readers to understand that it takes lots of focus and many years of hard work, not to mention the need of support from coaches and family.Even at sixteen years old, Laurie has such a clever mind, she chronicles has accomplished in a systematic way that anyone reading this book will find it easy to read. I was surprised to see the great detail taken to provide a “glossary of gymnastics terms,” for people that have no knowledge of Laurie’s sport. Another clever touch of this book is the: “Your turn”. Readers will have the opportunity to keep notes and save the book. Just think, many years later, those readers will revisit their journal entries and the memories of Laurie Hernandez will be relieved in their minds.