Meet the Olympic gold medalists studying at UCLA

UCLA is renowned for both its academics and athletics, so it’s no surprise that while we are among the next rocket scientists and world leaders, we are also among world-class athletes — and that includes Olympians. Joining the current 2016 freshman class — the graduating class of 2020 — are Olympic gymnasts and gold medalists, Madison Kocian (Rio, 2016) and Kyla Ross (London, 2012).

Both Kyla and Madison have unbelievably busy schedules, which include late nights and early mornings. Most mornings they are up before the sun rises, and spend their days running between activities as they balance workouts, class, tutoring, study sessions, homework, and down time. Kyla is studying bioengineering, and Madison, who is currently undeclared, admits she didn’t even pick out her classes this quarter (since she was competing in Rio until late August), but is interested in something alone like lines of human biology or physical science.

I had the privilege to sit down individually with both young women to discus their time at UCLA so far, their aspirations, and of course, the Olympics.

Was there ever a time when you considered pursuing something other than gymnastics, either in general or collegiately?

Kyla: I always wanted to be a student athlete in part because my dad did college athletics and its such a fun experience to get so close with a team. Especially having done gymnastics my whole life, it would be really great way to end my career.

Maddie: I think for every high-level athlete there’s a time when you get a little burned out and you’re not sure if you really want to do the sport anymore in general. I took a couple months off in like 2011 or 2012 because I had like injured my wrist and a lot of things were just not going my way. It was very hard to start coming back again when I would see my friends during the summer go do things they wanted to do, but after taking it easy for a couple months I realized my passion for gymnastics was still really coming from deep inside. So I got back into the high level and set a new goal every week, which is what got me through those four years because it definitely wasn’t easy.

Do you plan on making gymnastics a part of your life after college?

Kyla: Well gymnastics is honestly different than most of the sports here because for most of the other athletes, college is the beginning of their big career and they go on to be professional after, but for gymnastics it’s vise versa. Maddie and I did elite gymnastics since we were twelve, and then did the Olympics, and now are doing college as the end to our career.

Maddie: After college, I’m not sure yet. I haven’t decided if I’ll try for the 2020 Summer Olympics. I’m just gonna stay at UCLA as much as I can this year, enjoy my freshman year of college and college gymnastics and then over the summer probably see how my body is holding up and what I really want to do later on. Right now I think it’s just because I’ve been in the gym so much I don’t really see myself wanting to be in the gym after college, but I’m not sure; maybe I’ll end up there.

What is your favorite memory from the Olympics?

Kyla: I think just being able to go out and compete for the U.S. was such a humbling experience, and to be so young and not even realize how big of a stage I was on. I think it was just such a great experience to have; to be there with the team and win it in the end was really amazing.

Maddie: My favorite memory from the Olympics would probably be standing on the podium as a team getting our gold medals and then listening to the national anthem play.

Kyla, looking back on it, do you think it fully hit you in the moment that you were an Olympian or when do you think it did hit you?

Kyla: I honestly think since I was so young I definitely did not realize what I had accomplished. I still had to go back to high school and still competed years after that so I think just being recognized by people and being such a big figure that a lot of girls looked up to is something that made me come to realize how big of a stage I was on.

Maddie, how much do you remember from it? Or was it kind of a blur?

Maddie: I do remember certain things but I remember we were just so excited and happy to finally accomplish that goal. That’s why I don’t think anyone really cried, which was kind of surprising because, you know, in 2012, Aly and a bunch of them cried right after. I think for us we just prepared for so long and so well that we felt like robots going into the competition and we felt confident we’d win, even though it wasn’t like we always knew we were going to win. We still had to stay focused and do our job but it was a lot easier with that preparation behind us.

Have you gotten recognized a lot on campus and what’s that been like?

Kyla: Actually I have! I didn’t realize how much I was going to get recognized until I came here during summer session and people come up to me in the dining halls and asked for photos or when they’d see me walking on campus. But then now it’s worse because I have a backpack with my last name on it so people come from behind and are like “Kyla, Kyla!” It is cool to see, but at the same time there are so many great athletes here in general. Water polo has a bunch of great athletes and obviously football is big here and so is basketball so it’s cool to be in such a high level athletics environment all in one place.

Maddie: Yeah for sure! I’m pretty sure like every day I get recognized [laughs]. I just went to the grocery store today and got recognized there a couple times too. Sometimes it’s surprising because my hair’s always on my head, so with make-up on, especially if my hair’s down and I’m in normal clothes, I’m not used to getting recognized that much. Around campus I can kind of see it though because it was all over that I was gonna come to UCLA and stuff but usually people just want pictures. Sometimes it’s hard to fit everyone in because once one person starts, everyone starts looking around and then wants one and sometimes I’m like running to class or in between classes so it’s hard but I just try to please as many people as I can.

What’s your favorite part about UCLA so far?

Kyla: I honestly love like every part of it. Being a student athlete is a ton of work but the overall experience is so much fun and I’ve gotten to meet so many cool people here. All the students here are amazing, so everyone brings something different and it is such a unique and diverse campus so I really enjoy it. And of course the campus is beautiful itself. Sometimes we have to wake up before the sun rises so seeing the sunrise over campus is pretty awesome.

Maddie: My favorite thing about UCLA is just having a good balance of school and gym again because this last year I deferred my scholarship so I was just in the gym like 24/7. I guess having that balance now, it’s a lot harder than I thought it would be, just transitioning, but I’m enjoying meeting new people and new athletes that aren’t gymnasts.

Have you gotten to do much outside of campus?

Kyla: I’ve been to Santa Monica, and it was fun going to the beach there! Honestly just going down to Westwood and being there is fun but otherwise I haven’t really done much besides on-campus things. I think the campus, even though it’s small, has so much to do on it so I don’t get off of campus much but its okay because I love it here.

Maddie: I’ve been to Santa Monica and Venice. We went to Venice one Friday — the first Friday with the food trucks — because my teammates who have lived out here took me there which was fun because it was a different experience.

What else do you do in your free time, or what little you have? 

Kyla: I usually just hang out and talk with other people on my floor and other athletes or my teammates.

Maddie: I try to relax as much as I can. I’m very much a homebody so it’s hard being out here at first, away from my home and stuff like that. I really value my alone time, so anytime I can, I just chill out and watch Netflix or TV shows I want to catch up on. On the weekends sometimes I go out with one of my teammates to dinner or something like that just like take my mind off of things or I go to the sauna or hot yoga on the weekends because my muscles get really tight

What’s the best advice you’d give to other students on time management?

Kyla: I think I’m still learning time management! After talking to my coaches and my other teammates, they say freshman year is the hardest year of college because you really have to learn time management. It is probably the most important thing to being successful in school and as an athlete so I always just write stuff in my planner and always make sure to write in my phone too so that I always have reminders and just to stay on top of it. When you do get behind, it just builds up a lot and you’re going to be less motivated so I think just staying on top of it and staying motivated is the biggest key.

Maddie: Definitely being a student athlete you have to know how to manage your time very well so it’s also been really hard for me because I’m still traveling. This week actually I’m going to Nashville for the Country Music Awards, last week I also went to Nashville and I’ve also been doing the Kellogg’s tour. I’ve just been traveling on the weekends so I’m not missing classes, because that would be way too hard, but that takes up your homework and studying time. So for me, every even 30 minutes or hour that I get I just have to kinda focus on school and make sure I have a good balance in between gym and school. But at the same time, the best thing for advice I’d say is that while it is good to study, also try to get sleep because if you’re so worn out, you’re not gonna want to study the next day and you’re not gonna memorize things as well either. You have to have a good balance between everything, not just be super focused on school I would say.

More sleep? Got it! Thank you so much Kyla and Maddie for taking time out of your busy schedules to speak with me, it was an absolute pleasure.