Every month, GoStanford.com will present an interview with a Stanford women’s gymnastics alumna. This week, Jessica Louie Henry (‘06), is featured and discusses her time with SWG, how Stanford impacted her life and what she's been up to since graduation.
Can you catch everyone up on what you’ve been doing since you graduated from Stanford?
I wasn't sure what to do with a human biology degree when I left The Farm but luckily landed at an organization that really exposed me to a lot of the challenges of poverty and education. After living in Washington, D.C. for a few years, I'm finally back where I belong: the Bay Area! I work for NewSchools Venture Fund, an education philanthropy non-profit, and enjoying every minute.
What life lesson has stuck with you from your time in the gym?
Having the guts to go big or go home will always get you more and take you further than playing it safe.
What’s your favorite memory from SWG?
There are more memories than I have space to share and probably some that I shouldn't be recounting anyway. My freshman year we spent a week out of the gym doing cross training and it was a true test of our physical abilities as athletes!
One of those days was a pretty intense pool workout that involved some endurance swimming and partner exercises. As it turns out, very little gymnastics skill translates to the pool and many of us lacked any sort of natural buoyancy. At one point there were a lot of arms slapping the water, heads barely bobbing above water and gasping for air, yet very slow to no actual movement across the pool (and we were just trying to swim the short length of the diving well).
We couldn't have timed it better because right then the men’s swim team walked by, thoroughly entertained by what they were seeing. I think one of them described the scene as a "bunch of gerbils drowning in the water"... needless to say, I don't think any of us dated a swimmer that year.
Can you talk a little about your broader Stanford experience?
I loved my time at Stanford and was lucky enough to stick around for a super senior year. That year I was able to take some graduate level courses, my favorite being a surgery class at the medical school. We spent the quarter dissecting a human body and learning from some amazing, world class surgeons and professors at the medical school. I also met my future husband while I was at Stanford, so there's that.
What advice would you give to current SWG athletes?
Take advantage of all the different supports and opportunities offered by Stanford and SWG. You won't find another community that is rooting so hard for you to succeed!
Do you have any other thoughts or reflections you’d like to share about your time at Stanford or on the Stanford women’s gymnastics team?
While I made a few recruitment trips to other colleges, Stanford was the only one that instantly felt like home away from home. My teammates, coaching staff and Kristen, in particular, played such a critical role in shaping my college experience and I couldn't be more thankful for SWG!
