I AM UAA: Kathleen Mantell

Psychology, Class of 2012
Hometown: Antioch, CA
Fun Fact: First formal interview ever was for graduate school despite having held a coaching job since she was 15 years old.

Remember that late 1980s McDonald's commercial promoting the Olympics that depicted clips of babies foreshadowing their futures as the world's next top athletes? "Uta Grunewald who might someday stun the world with her devastating backstroke [baby splashing in the bathtub]...Bob Watson, rings [hanging from his crib]...and Jacque Bouclé for whom discus seems the most likely event [as he throws a plate off his high chair]..."

That commercial came immediately to mind when Seawolf gymnast Kathleen Mantell said she'd been at her sport since she was two years old.

"I climbed everything," Kathleen laughs. "I never crawled, just started walking. And I have pictures of me swinging from our counters, climbing door jambs and just hanging there, bouncing on the couch-I think my mom was afraid I was going to hurt myself so she put me in a Gymboree class."

Because of her boundless energy, young Kathleen quickly graduated from Gymboree into a full-fledged gymnastics program and has never thought of quitting since. Not when she developed a fear of flipping backwards. Not when she was told she would never be able to compete past level 6. Not even when she red-shirted her first season at UAA to catch up on credits. The girl has a tenacity that is fueled by equal parts passion and talent.

"I really just love the sport," says the 5'0" all-around competitor. "Even though I stayed at the compulsory levels longer than most girls and wasn't really at a high enough level to be recruited once I hit high school, I just kept competing because it's who I am and I love the sport."

After high school Kathleen went on to junior college and continued competing with her gymnastics club even though that made her the oldest athlete in the Junior Olympic program. She was able to make it to level 10 (the highest level in gymnastics) by her second year in college, proving all those people wrong who told her that her dreams of being a level-10 competitor were impossible because of her fear of flipping and tumbling backwards. In her last year competing in the Junior Olympic program, she qualified as first alternate to the Junior Olympic National Invitational Tournament.

"My coach, just for the heck of it, threw a sticker on my back that stated I was eligible to be recruited," she says. "That's where [UAA] Coach Paul [Stoklos] saw me and he asked if I had ever thought about college gymnastics. I hadn't because I had already started college and though it was too late to be recruited. But talking to Coach Paul was like music to my ears because the Junior Olympic tournament would have been my last and the end of my gymnastics career."

Two months later she found herself moving to Alaska as a walk-on to the Seawolf team. "I knew that this would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me," she says. "It was a huge opportunity to transfer to a four-year university and still be able to compete in the sport that I love."

Her first year was a bit of a challenge. Unfortunately not all of her junior college credits were able to come with her. But again Kathleen's tenacity won out. She took 15 credits her first fall semester, 20 that spring and 12 that summer just to catch up and redeem her eligibility so that she could compete the following fall. And during that summer she was surprised when she received a letter in the mail stating that she was being offered a full-ride athletic scholarship.

"Coach and I never really talked about scholarships, so the letter was a complete surprise," she says. "I have been blessed with opportunity to be a full-ride student athlete for the last two years and have enjoyed the opportunities I've had to give back to this community in return." Kathleen has participated in Special Olympics Bowling, Girl Scout gymnastics clinics and Reading with the Seawolves. "It is an honor to see how much young children look up to us and to know that we [UAA student athletes] have the potential to positively impact their lives," she says.

Graduating this May with a bachelor's degree in psychology, Kathleen has already been accepted into a doctorate program at John F. Kennedy University near her hometown in California. She will be pursuing her master's in sport psychology and doctor of psychology degree (PsyD) in a combined program starting this fall.

"I don't necessarily want to specialize in sports psychology but it has a twist that I like," she says. "I want to work with families, parents and kids, in a clinical setting. I'd love to be a child psychologist."

And it makes sense how she decided on that field. Kathleen started developing a fear of flipping and tumbling backwards as early as the age of 6. What started out as an innocent enough hesitation as a young child turned into something more deep-seeded as she got older. Luckily, with a change in gyms and the right coaches who were willing to work with her, she was able to achieve her goals, slowly move past the fear and deal with it when it presented itself.

"I haven't gotten over my fear, but I've learned how to work through it," she says. "And I am now able to apply my experience to a lot of what I study now in psychology and how fears affect people's ways of thinking."

Looking at her stats after two years of competing at UAA, she obviously has that fear well under control. A solid 9.6+ athlete, she excels at beam (her career best is a 9.8), has always loved the bars and performs well flipping over the vault and dancing in floor performances. She has contributed a sense of collaboration and camaraderie to her fellow Seawolves as well as discipline to her sport and her academics. She was born a natural, learned tenacity to overcome adversity and has made the most of the opportunities afforded her.

"I feel really well prepared for grad school," she says. "All the professors here have been awesome and each class has given me what I need. I am going to miss all that I have here in Alaska. In addition to receiving an excellent education, it has been by far one of the most adventurous, challenging and rewarding experiences of my life."

Too bad there isn't a commercial for future star psychologists. We're confident Kathleen will have a leading role in her chosen field.