AXY SENIOR PROFI LES
will continue pursuing his interests in engineering next year at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
ZOE JARRETT SCHMERTZLER
The Scholar Athlete
Z
oe Jarrett Schmertzler is a smiling, friendly person who is easy to
like, so it’s surprising to hear her call herself arrogant. But she is arrogant, if only brief ly, and it works for her. As she begins her f loor routine in gymnas- tics meets, she says to herself, “Silent arrogance,” and it gives
her the confidence she needs to do her best. “You have to tell yourself,
‘This is mine,’” she explains. “You really do have to be arrogant about it or the judge and the people watching it are not going to buy it.” She pauses and smiles, then adds, “I hope I’m not really an arrogant person.” Zoe’s absorption in what she
is doing is not self-adulation but simply intense focus. When she is doing cartwheels on a 4-inch beam, a momentary f licker of distraction can lead to a fall. As she approaches the beam, she stares down at the planks in the gym f loor going over her four C’s: “Confidence, Control, Conviction, Calm.” Through
gymnastics she has learned to focus on a goal and give up anything that will stand in the way of that goal. Ironically, that turned out to be gymnastics itself. As much as she loves gymnastics, she decided that she gets even more satisfaction from intellectual activities. First she chose to come to OES even though she knew a less rigorous academic environment would allow her to devote herself more fully to gymnastics. Then, having achieved Level 9 status, she could
WWW.OES.EDU
have given it her all to make Level 10, which would give her a shot at gymnastics programs at Division I schools. But that would have meant compromising her studies, and what Zoe wanted most was to go to the best college she could. In the fall she will attend Stanford University. “I knew that education
will always be important, but someday you have to stop gymnastics,” she said. “There’s a point where you have to decide. I got a lot out of gymnastics even though I didn’t make it to the top level. If I had given gymnastics my all, then I wouldn’t have the opportunity to go to Stanford.” Although Stanford is a
Division I school, Zoe won’t be on the gymnastics team there. She placed third in the nation in Level 9 balance beam this year, but Stanford gymnasts compete at Level 10. She may later decide to be a manager for the team, but in the fall she will take a dance class for her physical activity. It has a lot of similarities to the f loor routine she did in gymnastics, and the mere six hours a week it requires will give her plenty of time to pursue her studies. “I want to learn,” she
declares. “I love languages— I’ve studied French and Spanish extensively, and Arabic a little—and I love creative writing. Science is probably where I’ll end up career-wise, but artsy stuff is always fun to do, too.” Life requires choices. Zoe
made hers, and she doesn’t regret it one bit.
SUMMER 2010 OES MAGAZINE 17 17
“If something exciting happens, like the prom, I can tell myself, ‘I’m in class right now so I need to be focusing on this.’ I find that to be a lot easier from having done gymnastics.”
— Zoe Jarrett Schmertzler
Zoe has done gymnastics since she was age 4, at different times in Beaverton, Vancouver, Gresham, and most recently at the Multnomah Athletic Club. Her mom drove her to the gym every day.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40