When people see Michelle Maryk perform, they always assume she was a gymnast which was true. However, she stopped at the young age of eight. Her mother exposed her to a plethora of dance classes, which were at best challenging. Michelle remembers hiding after school so her mom could not find her because she didn’t want to go to dance class. It eventually became painful for even her mother to watch because Michelle could not keep up with the moves. Michelle actually preferred to lift weights with her dad when she was eight and around that time, Michelle picked up track and field. Due to her compulsive nature she ruined her knees by the age of 12. From that point on she could only exercise if she avoided repetitive motion on her knees. Ten years ago she had a nearly fatal car accident and that’s when she turned to yoga, but it wasn’t until about five years ago when she was introduced to hot yoga; she immediately became obsessed! A couple years later, a friend dragged her to an intro pole class. Michelle did not want to go because she doubted that it actually possessed athletic merit, but she was wrong and soon the love affair started! Michelle has been doing pole for about a year and a half and she plans to continue learning, performing, and competing.