Ryan Smith 10 is a level 10 gymnast at Sundance Studios here in Monument. He’s worked very hard over the years to reach his personal goals, and enjoys being involved in a sport that is unique.

 “I do gymnastics, and I go to Sundance Studios in Monument. Competition season is from January to July, and it’s about every other weekend. Last year at regionals, I got first place in my age group for power tumbling which was a really big deal because I sucked at tumbling for a long time and it was just destroying my body, so I figured it out and started kicking butt. Currently, I haven’t trained in over a month because my lowest vertebrae is fractured, and above that I have an inflamed disc between my vertebrae. It’s definitely a driving factor for me, it keeps me focused on what I want to do at the end of the day, because no matter how stressful a school day is, I always know I can go do flips after and get a stress relief. It’s definitely a comfort zone where I can be free. Seeing other people who are at a higher level than I am, or other people doing the same thing as I am, just encourages me to want to figure it out or do it again and just keep going. Colleges don’t do this kind of gymnastics so it’s hard, but I’d love to be able to do something like this as a career on the side if I still can. I think the fact that I want to do something very different when I’m an adult is unique, I don’t want to do the typical ‘go to college for something I kind of like and get a job that I kind of like’. I want to go all out with something I really enjoy, and have a full life instead of just the same old American life that a lot of people live.”