Kiersten Wang: Using Engineering to help others
Friday, February 21, 2014 | Gymnastics
By Charles Kingsburgy – UF Communications
Junior Kiersten Wang knows how important it is to connect her tumbling passes during her floor routines.
In 2013, her steady improvements on the apparatus led to an increased role in Florida's floor rotation. In three of the Gators' final four meetings, she registered a 9.850 or higher, including a career-high 9.90 at the SEC Championships.
And in Summer 2013, Wang, an engineering major, transferred her unique ability to connect in the gym overseas, where she helped to develop bridges for impoverished peoples.
For 10 days, Wang, along with her father, Tim – and engineering students from Notre Dame – laid down the foundation for a suspended bridge for the people of Matagalpa, Nicaragua.
Together, they worked tirelessly to ensure the flood-stricken community was given a safer route to markets, clinics and schools for more than 500 locales as part of an initiative by a non-profit organization called Bridges for Prosperity.
It was the final step in the project that began two summers ago, when Wang and her father spent a month surveying the community of Barrio Lucidia Mantilla with a group of students from Rice University.
After seeing firsthand children crossing flash floods to make it to school and other community outlets, Wang was determined to finish what she started in 2011.
Wang and locales spent hours performing manual labor, gathering rocks from the riverbed to use as materials for the bridge.
“Let me tell you, Nicaraguans are just amazing,” Wang said of their involvement.
In the process, she developed strong relationships with church locales and surrounding community members.
Shortly after her departure, the 147.6-foot bridge was finished and Wang was set to embark on a new challenge to help the Gators claim another national championship.
But like her Nicaraguan companions, she was presented with what seemed to be an insurmountable obstacle.
“This is not what I really expected,” Wang said of the beginning to her junior season.
Wang suffered two adductor tears to her right leg in the fall 2013 semester. An immediate return was in question.
“I had my hopes up high,” Wang said of her possible return. “I knew I was going to miss the very first week or so.”
But the injury never fully healed.
And for a gymnast coming off the heels of a breakout sophomore year, suffering a slow-healing injury appeared to be a worst-case scenario. For Wang, however, it has become an opportunity to give back to her teammates as she did for the community in Nicaragua.
“After the injury, I thought, 'If this is the path I'm going to take, there is nothing I can do.'”
Now in her new role, Wang is determined to boost team morale. She shows up to practice every day and works tirelessly to recover in hopes of returning during Florida's defense of its title come April.
“I can take this year and be the best supporter I can be.”
