In a press release, she said, “I always dreamed of going to college, but I decided to pursue my dream of gymnastics full-time, so that wasn’t possible. I was planning on going to UCLA, but had to postpone due to my training schedule. I still want to earn a college degree, and University of the People offers the flexibility I need to balance my studies with my career. I enrolled at University of the People because I believe in higher education and want to share that opportunity with others around the world.”
She also said, “I am a foster child myself and I know what it means to be disadvantaged, so I decided to help open this scholarship fund for foster children and others and hope others will join me. Ultimately, your circumstances in life should not define you or get in the way of your goals. I believe in the power of hard work. I know that dedication and desire can make the impossible possible, and I want to help remove the barriers that keep those who truly want to get a college degree from doing so.”
