Amy is Fourth Ferguson at Florida
Thursday, February 3, 2011 | Gymnastics
Living a two-hour car ride away and hailing from a University of Florida family, it should come as no surprise Amy Ferguson came to UF. Her two older siblings Sarah, 23, and Stuart, 22, were Gators.
Sarah majored in production, while Stuart is in his fifth year of engineering. Amy meanwhile, is in her third year as a marketing major doubling as a Gator gymnast.
Amy's No. 1 fan also attends UF—her twin, Jessica.
Jessica, an exercise physiology major, echoed her sister that they come from a Gator family.
“I never really planned on going anywhere else,” Jessica said. “I had applied other places, but UF was definitely my number one choice.”
Amy remembered when she visited Gainesville to move Sarah in. She was welcomed with Gator chants and asked if she would follow her older sister at UF.
“Just how much people love to be here makes you love this experience,” Amy said. “I'm honored to be a Gator and to be able to be a part of that group of people who are so supportive.”
But most UF students, Amy's siblings included, aren't Division I athletes.
Amy got tips from her older brother and sister on time management including how to budget study time amid road trips.
And she had Jessica to lean on.
“All my siblings were there for me to offer me advice in any way they could, or even if I just wanted to vent to them,” Amy said.
And she needed them her freshman year—having to acclimate to a new team, new gymnastics environment; all while dealing with the usual first-year adjustment period for college students.
Freshman year marked the first time Amy and Jessica didn't share a room. They weren't even in the same residence hall.
“It was different because I'm so used to her always being there and having that other person who knew me so well,” Jessica said.
But one always made the trip to visit the other. And both remained an integral part of each other's lives.
Amy made sure her sister knew everyone on the team and felt like she belonged. Whether it was hanging out with the team or attending meets, Jessica remained involved. She's even been told by gymnasts she's part of the team.
“I feel like part of the team, except I don't practice with them,” she said.
Jessica, a club soccer player up through high school, did her part to give her sister a reprieve from gym. When she was on an intramural soccer team freshman year, Amy was on it as well.
It made for some old-fashioned sibling chest bumping.
“I'm going to have to say she has me (in soccer),” Amy said about her shifty-legged twin.
While Amy has the camaraderie of a team, she also realizes the value of having a bond with a sibling. She is the only current Gator gymnast to have a sibling attend UF simultaneously.
Jessica, once again roommates with her twin, can look at Amy after a day of practice and judge by her sister's face how it went.
Jessica always asks first when it looks like it's been a rough go for Amy.
Now a seasoned junior, Amy doesn't seem to have as many bad days or vent sessions.
“I don't understand how they do what they do,” Jessica said. “They're constantly working out, plus school. Any athlete who's in that situation, it's got to be hard.”
But through the blood, sweat, tears and the occasional five-minute argument with her sister, Amy has stuck with gymnastics with the help of her closest teammate of all.
“Jessica has literally been a part of (my UF career) since I've started here,” she said. “I want to be able to share this incredible experience I'm having with as many people as I can, especially Jessica since we're so close.”
And the head of the Amy Ferguson fan club beams with joy whenever her sister is competing.
“It's exciting to see her go out and perform after working so hard for all these years,” Jessica said. “I can see the way she gets almost anxious-excited before she's about to go, and it's like I can almost feel the way she is. I know she'll always do well… she's been doing it for so long.”
By Eugenio Torrens, UF Communications
