Scholar Stories: Gu Doing What She Loves at Michigan -- Dance, Computer Science
11/27/2019 10:00:00 AM | Features, Spirit Department
Continuing the series that began in 2016-17, each Wednesday MGoBlue.com will highlight a Michigan student-athlete and their academic pursuits. These are our Scholar-Athlete Stories, presented by Prairie Farms.
By Molly Miller
Asked if there were any other activities in her life besides and dance and school, Allison Gu laughed.
"Nope, just dance," she said. "That's it. There's not really much time for anything else."
Of course.
A senior and tri-captain of the University of Michigan dance team, Gu is earning a degree in computer science engineering with a minor in entrepreneurship. A full plate, indeed.
She began dancing at age 8 after trying ballet with a friend. By her junior year of high school, Gu was on three different dance teams.
"I was competing and dancing with my studio, on an all-star team, and also on my high school dance team. My junior year, we actually won a championship for my studio," she said. "It was just a natural thing for me to try out for the dance team here at Michigan. It's just something that I've always been passionate about."
Along with the Michigan dance team, she is actively involved in two student dance groups: enCore and The Project. In the classroom, however, Gu has a different interest: computer science.
"My passion for computer science stems from my desire to use and create technology to help people make their lives better," she said, "whether that's making something more accessible for someone who might be disabled, or making things easier or more fun to use. It's why I like computer science, and why I'm excited to be a software engineer."
This past summer, she held an internship with the tech startup Education.com working on their games team. She designed graphics, developed new game ideas, and eliminated game-crashing bugs while collaborating with engineers, content creators and designers throughout the company.
"They make educational games for kids. I worked on (their coding games) that teach kids the basics of coding. It was really cool."
No matter what role Gu steps into, she strives to make an impact. As one of the captains of the dance team, one of her biggest responsibilities is serving as a mentor to her teammates.
"For me, I'm the kind of leader who likes to lead by example, so that means holding myself to a higher standard and being super dependable and consistent," she said, "Making sure that I'm not a hypocrite. If I'm telling someone to practice something, then I better make sure I'm practicing that, too."
The team practices early mornings before classes two to three times a week, in addition to a five-hour practice on Sunday. In August, the team learns their nationals routines, which they will continue to practice and refine until the competition in January. Every spring, all dancers must tryout again for the team, excluding captains. Gu and her teammates dance year-round.
To stay motivated, she draws inspiration from her teammates.
"I think that everyone on the team has aspects or traits that I look up to and that I try to emulate," she said. "They say that you are made up of the people that you surround yourself with, right? I think that having such an amazing team of talented, hardworking people pushes me to be better. They are all my role models."
For Gu, being a student-athlete is an experience unlike any other in terms of athletics and academics. One of her favorite classes was a web systems course with College of Engineering professor Andrew DeOrio; the class created clones of Instagram and Google's websites. Out of the classroom, her favorite dance moment was during the Michigan-Indiana football game in 2016.
"It snowed, and I just remember doing snow angels on the field and having so much fun with my friends on the team."
So, what's next for Gu? While she has yet to finalize her plans, she's already received a few job offers from tech companies in the Bay Area. No matter where she ends up after graduation, Gu knows that it is the friendships she has made on the dance team that will stick with her.
"We're all best friends," she said. "It's an amazing feeling getting to do what you love with the people that you love."
