2017 Member Highlight #6. Panda Bear!!! 
🐼@khammy94 who since she started as Philipa Sanchez has become a major part of 3126!
” It’s difficult to find a starting point when talking about my greatest moments at 3126 this year because it was all great. Our box is my happy place, my safe space, my place where I have no worries. It is where my teammates are. It is the people that make this place so great. In May I moved to Saskatoon, but I knew definitively that no matter how annoying the drive may be I would not switch gyms. That is because I love the people at 3126, they’re my people. I can go into any other gym across the world and find barbells, ropes, rigs, wall-balls etc., but I won’t find my teammates, my people, and without them it’s not the same.
This year I travelled to Vancouver and watched Melissa compete at the canwest games. I didn’t compete. I spent the whole time in flip flops but I was one of my favorite memories so far. I was so happy cheering Mel on and being her media liaison for friends and family back home. I felt fueled by the energy of the crowd, cheering for individuals but also cheering for all of the competitors as if they were one big team. That’s the heart of 3126 Athletics. A few weeks later I got to see the other side of that competing at BCBD with Tanesha as my partner and again at Festivus. Both were very different competitions with very different results but it was so much fun to be a part of and get to compete with a good friend by my side.
Another huge highlight was my decision to take my Crossfit level 1 trainer course. I found myself more and more interested in learning movement progressions, scale downs, and the reasonings for why we do what we do. I also found myself really wanting to help out the new people in class and people learning or perfecting a new skill. It was also hard to ignore how busy Reg was coaching the vast majority of classes. Once I signed up for the course and started studying i knew for certain I had made the right decision. Everything in the level 1 handbook was fascinating and I started to reframe the way I thought about every workout I had ever done.
Now, 3126 Athletics was more to me than just an seemingly great way to stay fit and make friends it was also everything I love about science. It’s beautifully brilliant. The level 1 course itself was also amazing. I love how they take everything you think you know and break it down into its tiniest, most simple parts. The movement are stripped down and so is any ego you may have had walking in, but in a very honest and supportive environment. The seminar staff were amazing and I seriously admire and look up to them. Leaving the course I said to my mom “wouldn’t it be cool to be them one day?”. She responded by saying “first things first”. And she’s right. My next (and last?) great highlight is beginning coaching. Everyone has been very supportive, even if they still don’t hear me even though I swear I’m projecting 
haha. I’m excited to grow as a coach, and learn from Reg who has been a great mentor so far, as well as from everyone else at 3126. With 2018 comes many questions for me. I’ll be finishing my masters and I honestly don’t know what comes next after that. It’s honestly quite terrifying and a big fear of mine is having to leave 3126. But I know that while I am around I’m very excited to see what great things will come next!
Sorry for the book 
😊“