Name: Karin Grant (maiden name: Karin Wurm)
Years competed: 4
Year graduated: 2009 (gymnastics 2004-2008)

What did you accomplish at Arizona and as a GymCat?

• 2-time NCAA All-American
• 4-time NCAA Academic All-American
• Pac-10 Student Athlete of the Year, 2008
• CoSIDA Academic All-District III
• Won the Eller College of Management "Think Forward" Award, 2008
• Represented Arizona in a Public Relationship & Corporate Responsibility Internship at Nike
• Graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS from Eller College of Management with a BS in Business Marketing, minor studio art
• Arizona SAAB Vice President 2007 and President 2008
• 2-time Individual National Qualifier, All-Around
• 2-time Pac-10 gymnast of the week

What have you been up to since graduation?
After college I took some time to travel for a few months internationally with my GymCat teammate, Melanie Skinner (Weiser). An unbelievable experience I would recommend to anyone. After spending time working in New York City for a digital agency, I now work for a research and consulting firm in Dallas, TX.  I was married in 2015 to my husband Jason in Charleston, SC, and outside of time spent traveling, we live in Dallas with our 2 dogs.

How do you feel Arizona helped you grow as a person?
Some of my best friends in the world came from the Arizona gymnastics team, and I am very lucky to still have them as a major part of my life.  The Eller College of Business at Arizona is a fantastic program, and the opportunities I received through my internships at Nike and Mattel were irreplaceable by exposing me to Fortune 500 companies and how their organizations operate.  I believe the business school, in conjunction with the structure and demands of the gymnastics program, have provided an invaluable foundation for me to succeed in my adult working life. They've taught me how to balance and succeed with the demands of an ever changing workload, teamwork, and a healthy dose of competitiveness.

Are you still involved in gymnastics? What do you miss most about the University of Arizona?
I am not directly involved in gymnastics anymore, though I dabble with an aerial or a handstand every now and then.  The University of Arizona provided me with incredible friendships with whom I was able to hang out with daily and access to tremendously smart professors in the business school.  This all was on the backdrop of one of the most beautiful areas in the country. What I miss most is competing for the GymCats and walking out to perform in McKale - there's nothing like it.

What about Arizona stood out to you when being recruited? 
I looked at colleges with the lens of 3 things – 1) Scholastics 2) Caliber of the gymnastics program 3) Did I see myself being happy there.  The Eller College is a top ranked business program, and Arizona is consistently a top 20 gymnastics program. No. 3 was a tough one – if I was going to spend the majority of my time with the girls in the program and living far from home, I needed to enjoy going to practice, being around my coaches, and living in a new area.  I wanted to be able to afford the area I was living in and be active outside of the gym as well.  Arizona wow'ed me with their coaching staff, the girls I met were absolutely wonderful, and the facilities were state-of-the-art. I was blown away by the area's saguaro cacti, palm trees, hiking, monsoon season and the jaw dropping scenery. There are incredible, non-chain restaurants in Tucson, and you can afford a beautiful place right near campus with the city's cost of living.  It's also tough to beat laying pool side in mid-January.

What do you miss most about being a student-athlete?
McKale has a wonderful community to it.  Whether it was sports or school related, you knew you had a talented network of both fellow athletes and staff to help you at all times.  Since every sport used the training room and workout facilities in McKale, it became a second home to all athletes.  It is motivating being around such talent from all the sports programs all the time, and many of them decorated students as well.  I loved having that community, motivation and support.  I also loved to perform, so competing as an Arizona gymnast is really what I miss the most.

What are some of your favorite memories at Arizona and with the GymCats? 
Beating Arizona State, at Arizona State, for the first time in years during my senior year always sticks out in my mind.  The crowd was heckling us, on beam of all places, and we hit routine after routine for the win. Traveling to nationals and becoming an All-American is up there in my favorite memories as well.  I can't say enough about the team. We had some amazing times outside of the gym too, going down to Mexico or hanging before season during Christmas break, and post-season in the summer.  The friendships I have from the GymCats to this day spans from the seniors when I was a freshman, to those who were freshmen when I was a senior – we have a lot of memories.

What advice would you give to current GymCat athletes?
I would remind them that being a GymCat is truly an honor, and it builds a band of sisters. Each teammate is a representative of all the alumni out there – be kind, be a great teammate, work your tail off in school and in the gym – 4 years flies by.

 Anything else you would like to share about your time at Arizona?
I can't say enough about the opportunities that Arizona provided me in both scholastics and in the sport of gymnastics. I'm incredibly thankful to be a Wildcat and a GymCat.  I know I wouldn't be the person I am without having attended Arizona and would not change it for the world.