How new perspectives come from moonwalking

The importance of defying the normalizing force of gravity. I had a student visit my office hours recently looking for career advice to help him marry his scholastic endeavors with his extracurricular activities as a student athlete. He began to expound upon his experiences in and out of the classroom here at the University of Michigan, the high expectations of the business school, and the pace of the classes. But what captured my attention most was the way he described the complexities of being a gymnast. Of course, it was more nuanced than just jumping and flipping; there’s the full-body physical conditioning of the sport and the mental fortitude it commands. All the things. However, as the student gave me a peek into his world of gymnastics, it became clear to me that what he was actually doing was defying gravity (cue the song from Wicked)—if only for a moment in time. When he jumps in the air, contorting and bending his body in mid-flight, he is essentially testing the boundaries of what’s possible relative to the forces of gravity’s pull.