Shawn Johnson, who was crowned winner of Dancing with the Stars last season, is still practically a year away from completing high school but she’s already trimmed down her college options to UCLA and Stanford. And because NCAA rules won’t allow her to compete, coaching may be the next best thing for 17-year-old Olympic gymnast.
“I’m looking at Stanford, UCLA and I would love to coach for their teams,” Johnson said Sunday before an autograph session at the Hy-Vee Triathlon in West Des Moines. “I love California, and they’re both great schools.”
Johnson attended Valley High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, entering the 2008-2009 school year as a junior. While attending the public school where she took part in numerous extra-curricular activities and was the A Honor Roll, she trained 20 to 25 hours a week for gymnastics. In the spring of the 2008-2009 school year, she took time off school and moved to Los Angeles, California with her mother to participate on Dancing with the Stars, where she was paired with professional dancer Mark Ballas.
For her senior year, however, she won’t return to Valley High School anymore. Instead, the Dancing with the Stars champ will take Internet courses.
“I got too far behind and couldn’t keep up with public school — going every day,” Johnson said. “So I pulled out and I did online schooling.”
Johnson is the 2008 Olympic women’s balance beam gold medalist, the individual all-around silver medalist, the 2007 all-around World Champion, and the 2007 and 2008 U.S. all-around champion. While she seems to have a clear direction when it comes to her education, she remains undecided about whether she wants to compete in the 2010 Summer Games in London.
“I’m not sure, yet,” she said. “It’s just finding that thing that makes me happy — setting new challenges and goals for myself.”
-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: USA Today
(Image courtesy of Getty)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
