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Aimee Walker-Pond, a former elite gymnast who is also deaf and blind in one eye, speaks to Mountain View High School students on Thursday, March 3, 2016 during their Hope week, a suicide awareness program. SAMMY JO HESTER, Daily Herald

Sammy Jo Hester, Daily Herald

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Aimee Walker-Pond, a former elite gymnast who is also deaf and blind in one eye, speaks to Mountain View High School students on Thursday, March 3, 2016 during their Hope week, a suicide awareness program. SAMMY JO HESTER, Daily Herald

Sammy Jo Hester, Daily Herald

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Aimee Walker-Pond, a former elite gymnast who is also deaf and blind in one eye, speaks to Mountain View High School students on Thursday, March 3, 2016 during their Hope week, a suicide awareness program. SAMMY JO HESTER, Daily Herald

Sammy Jo Hester, Daily Herald

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Hope ambassadors are recognized during an assembly at Mountain View High School students on Thursday, March 3, 2016 during their Hope week, a suicide awareness program. SAMMY JO HESTER, Daily Herald

Sammy Jo Hester, Daily Herald

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An elite gymnast and former Bruin joined Mountain View High School’s student body on Thursday for an assembly on suicide awareness.

As a part of the school’s Hope Week — a regular event held to help students realize there are options available if they are suffering from depression or suicidal thoughts — Aimee Walker Pond spoke about the challenges and setbacks she had to overcome to be successful.

Born deaf and blind in one eye, Pond was originally turned away from gymnastics class because the studio didn’t have a coach who signed.

“I remember telling my mom it doesn’t matter, I can still see what the kids are doing and I can copy them,” Pond said at the event with the help of an interpreter. “I don’t need anyone who can sign.”

Though her mother agreed, Pond still wasn’t allowed in the class.

A couple of weeks later, that changed. Pond’s cousin, who had already signed up and paid for the class, broke her ankle. Pond’s aunt encouraged her to take her cousin’s place, and to keep the fact that she was deaf a secret.

That worked, until the coach called her name and Pond didn’t answer.

“All of the kids were sitting in a row, and of course I couldn’t hear so I wasn’t paying attention to the coach,” Pond said. “And the coach kept calling my name. Aimee, Aimee. A girl next to me tapped me and said the coach wants you. I looked at her but couldn’t understand her. So I looked at my mom who was sitting in the stands and I signed ‘What is she saying?’ and Mom said ‘Oh no, they are going to kick you out!'”

But instead the coach surprised them. She walked over to Pond’s mom and talked of her plans of becoming a speech therapist. She then proposed a plan: she would teach Pond gymnastics and Pond could teach her sign language.

“What a wonderful opportunity that was that opened up the door for me to get into gymnastics,” Pond said. “I continued on never looking back.”

She eventually went on to compete for UCLA and BYU, and rose to the level of International Elite, a feat no athlete with comparable disabilities has accomplished in the history of the sport.

“I overcame so many challenges, you have no idea what it takes,” she said. “But we all have challenges, and we can do anything if we try and don’t doubt ourselves. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or ask for help.”

That sentiment — never give up and ask for help when you need it — was the main message of Pond’s presentation to the more than one thousand students who attended the event.

“You just have to roll up your sleeves and keep working no matter what,” she said. “You can do it. You’re strong, you’re courageous, you’re brilliant, you’re young, you’re beautiful and handsome, you’re all different but all wonderful.”

Now married with four kids, Pond and her husband Derek own Champions Sports Center in Saratoga Springs, a multi-sport and recreational center that offers fitness classes. Pond’s biography, “No Excuses,” was recently released by Impact Publishing.