Round-off back handspring full back tuck. To many of us, this sounds like a foreign language, but to Emma Gier ’13, it’s a part of every single day, every single week, every single year.

Emma has been doing gymnastics with Iowa Gym-Nest since she was just two years old. Starting out in the ‘Mommy and Me’ classes, she now competes at a level which most girls never reach. From the moment she started, it was her ‘thing’.

“My parents decided to keep me in gymnastics because apparently I wouldn’t let go of the bar,” said Emma. Contrary to what most people think, the sport is not just individual; the team plays a large role in the life of a gymnast.

“I am amazingly close with all the girls there. We are all like family, and we travel everywhere together,” she said.  Emma practices 4-5 hours on weekdays and even more on weekends.  She learns not just the physical skills needed for the demanding sport, but life lessons as well.

“Everything from motivation and perseverance, to working through and injury are all things that are needed throughout life and will last forever, even when my body can’t do the flips anymore,” Emma said.

These skills help her in all aspects of her busy life; which includes not only gymnastics, but includes singing and dancing as well. (Emma is a member of “City Lights”)

Emma hopes to continue her passion after high school. She is currently training to be a level 10, which is the level at which most Division 1 college gymnasts compete.

“I really hope to do gymnastics in college. I’ll probably specialize in bars and beam. That’d be amazing. College gymnastics is so focuses on the team thing and I love that,” she says.

Emma is continuing on the path which she hopes will take her long past her high school years, but is taking full advantage of everything offered to her now.