Today we’d like to introduce you to Ariana Berlin Rotstein.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Ariana. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was three when I fell in love with gymnastics. After a few years of doing it just for fun, I realized it was something I wanted to take seriously and compete in. As my gymnastics career progressed, my parents and I decided to move to a more competitive gym that could take me to the next level. This meant switching to a gym in Orange County. I’m from San Diego, so as you can imagine, this was a family commitment. My mom drove me 3 hours a day, six days a week to and from Orange County… for six years! It paid off. I won Level 9 Nationals and made it to Level 10, which is one level away from Olympic level. At age 14, I was in 8th grade, I had to home school for training. I was now at a gym in Temecula and on the verge of making the Elite level which is the Olympic level. That was the dream, first, to become an Olympian, then, to finish out my career at the collegiate level at my dream university, UCLA.
It was Thanksgiving weekend, which meant I had the weekend off of practice so my mom and I decided to do a mother/daughter shopping day in Orange County. The two of us drove up from San Diego. Five days later, I woke up from a coma. As my mom and I were driving to Orange County, our car was hit from behind, sending it rolling 5-6 times. When it stopped, sideways on my mom’s side, I was hanging out of the window with the seatbelt wrapped around my neck holding me inside the car. Both my mom and I have no recollection of the accident, but this is what the first witnesses told us.
I broke both femurs, my wrist, collarbone, ribs, and both of my lungs had collapsed. I had four surgeries, one of which was an emergency surgery where a titanium rod was placed into my right femur. My mom broke her Tibia, shatter her Scapula, broke ribs and had minor brain trauma. We were both hospitalized for a month.
I remember during the recovery process one of my orthopedic surgeons said I wouldn’t be able to do gymnastics again. I realized the extent of my injuries, but it had never occurred to me that my gymnastics career could be over. I refused to believe it. After a year-long recovery, months of physical therapy, transitioning from a wheelchair to a walker, to crutches, to walking, I attempted a comeback, but was in far too much pain from the rod in my femur and did not feel as though I could reach my full potential. I finally came to the realization that I would no longer be a gymnast again… or so I thought.
Luckily, I had another passion, dancing. I was 15 years old when I joined a professional hip-hop dance troupe. We were hired to dance in a show at Sea World directed by non-other than UCLA Gymnastics Head Coach, Valorie Kondos Field (Miss Val). The show consisted of our dance troupe, gymnastics, percussionists, and contortionists. I was now working with my dream coach from my dream university! I danced in her show for two summers. That second year performing for Miss Val, something was different. I would watch the gymnasts rehearse and began to miss the sport. On the last night of rehearsals, I walked up to Miss Val and said “It has been my dream to be a UCLA gymnast and to be coached by you. I’m not sure what I’m capable of doing, but I’ll go back to gymnastics tomorrow if I can be a part of your team.” She answered, “I’ve seen your work ethic and I would take you on just for that.” That week, I got back into the gym.
I ended up graduating a year early from high school and walked onto the UCLA Gymnastics Team. Although Miss Val thought my contributions to the team would be in the form of positive enforcement rather than actually competing, I had other plans for myself. I was going to compete… on every event. That’s exactly what happened. My freshman year I was named PAC 10 Co-Freshman of the Year and after that first season, I was given a full-ride scholarship for my remaining years at UCLA. By my senior year, I was an All-American and placed 4th in the nation at the National Championships.
Dreams do come true. There was even a movie made about my story called Full Out!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road was definitely not a smooth one. There were many twists and turns, ups and downs. I struggled with a lot of pain in my leg and managing my training schedule. When I got to UCLA, I basically lived in the physical therapy room doing rehab exercises multiple times a day to strengthen my right leg. It helped, but I was still in tremendous pain and was only able to train a third of the amount that my teammates were. I did a lot of mental routines. I would stand in front of each apparatus, close my eyes, and visualize perfect sets. But would this translate to the competition floor? It did… in a big way!
There are many ways to achieve a goal or dream. Don’t be afraid to take the unconventional route or pave a new road to get there. Stay positive, don’t take no for an answer, when fear or doubt creeps in, fill your head with positive thoughts. I remember before every beam routine when doubt would creep in, I would say to myself “you got this, you got this” over and over and over to push out the negative thoughts. I become one of the most consistent gymnasts in UCLA history… the method works!
Please tell us about your work.
I’m a producer of Original Content at Fox Sports. I develop and execute sports documentaries, series, and talent-driven shows. My responsibilities range from field producing, where I’m onsite, day in and day out of documentary or feature shoots to working in a studio or producing edits on weekly shows. I’m most proud of our MAGNIFY series, which is a feature-length documentary series that uses sports as a lens for examining important cultural stories, showing how sports can unite communities. Superstars such as LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade and Chance the Rapper have been executive producers of these films to help bring awareness and make a positive impact.
There’s a wealth of academic research that suggests that a lack of mentors and networking opportunities for women has materially affected the number of women in leadership roles. Smart organizations and industry leaders are working to change this, but in the meantime, do you have any advice for finding a mentor and building a network?
I’m fortunate to have had incredible mentors along my personal and professional journey. It’s not always an easy task finding someone who will invest time and energy into mentoring you, but that shouldn’t deter you because mentors can be instrumental to one’s life and career paths. What I have found to be successful is to make the process effortless for the mentor. Whether it’s asking to shadow the person or reaching out for advice, do your research, be prepared, ask to help in any way, no matter how big or small the task may be. This way, you’re working together instead of relying on the mentor to do the heavy lifting. If you’re engaged and proactive, your mentor will be more inclined to guide you.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.arianaberlin.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arianaberlin/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/arianaberlin
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ariana-berlin-74ab7237
Image Credit:
Rhys Jones, US Soccer
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