Gwendolyn Smythe-- The girl who flew All limits are self imposed.

Icarus
The huge convention hall meeting space was filled with strangers; friends and family of teams from around the world all converged at the University of Tennessee to witness and participate in the Destination Imagination Global Finals Gwen and her team stood ready behind the taped line that indicated the launch space In a moment! they would spring into action and present their solution to this year"s challenge#Sudden Serendipity $s they waited! the sound of thunderous applause echoed through the tall dividing wall that separated the various performance spaces Gwen felt the pain of an%iety grip her stomach She thought she might throw up right there! but a sip from her trusty water bottle &uic'ly calmed her nerves (er team manager had already ta'en her seat in the designated chair $nd then! the words that had prompted the team in so many practices and performances cut through the air and charged them into action )*egin + The performance went well (er team chose to use sign language! in addition to ,nglish! to e%press their message Finally! the moment of truth Gwen needed to fly )Grab my hand!+ she whispered to her teammates )(ere!+ -oni&ue! her best friend said ).uic' + The board that acted as a lever pushed Gwen up into the air )/e"re free!+ she shouted Then! 01$023 The board snapped and more &uic'ly than she rose! she plummeted bac' down toward the stage floor 4uc'ily! she still held -oni&ue"s hand $pplause resounded through the room It was over ,leven years of participation and practice concluded with this fourth place finish at the Global Finals Fourth out of 56 teams from all over the world If someone was going to describe Gwendolyn Smythe! one might sum her up in one word#determined Gwen! an eighteen year old freshman! at $ny 0ollege! benefits from being the oldest of four children )-y little brothers! Tom and -ar'! are twins They"re my dad"s 'ids with his new wife They"re really cute They"re now four + She believes that it"s important to be a good role model for her little brothers )$t first! I thought that I would resent them because they would ta'e up my dad"s time from being with me and my other brother! David *ut it all wor'ed out +

Gwen en7oys listening to music and hanging out with friends at the beach )-y dad has a condo in 1oc'port -e and my friends go there on wee'ends + Gwen has attended several concerts there (er favorite was fol' singer Tom 1ush (er favorite food is Thai food! if she had to choose a restaurant! and ice cream )I eat ice cream ,8,19 D$9!+ Gwen said She also loves 4eonardo Di0aprio and George 0looney (er favorite movie is Titanic )If only George 0looney had been in that! too!+ she said (er favorite color is green and her favorite song is Dream On by $erosmith )I love the power of that song!+ Gwen said )I also love a lot of classic roc' bands of the seventies and eighties + In the future! Gwen hopes to be a screen writer )I really li'e theater and everything about it!+ Gwen said with a faraway loo' in her eyes )Going to plays! watching movies! even T8! you get to e%perience other places: other worlds I want to be one of the people who creates those worlds + Gwen was inspired by a director that she had at a theater camp when she was 7ust eleven years old );ason Slavi' was one of those people who was always happy!+ Gwen said )(e 'new what he wanted his actors to accomplish on stage and he also 'new how to inspire them to produce that + She went on to e%plain how he adapted a Sha'espeare play for 'ids while 'eeping the same overall meaning of the play She is also inspired by Tina Fey from 6< 1oc' and Saturday =ight 4ive )She"s my idol!+ Gwen said Gwen is currently studying theater! writing and accounting Gwendolyn Smythe loo's forward to a future full of e%citing challenges and accomplishments ,ven though the board crac' and her moment of flight was cut short! her spirit s'yroc'eted )I didn"t want my last performance to end the way that it did! but in the end! it made it more memorable ,veryone was tal'ing about our team They 'new that we too' a chance $nd we won a Da8inci $ward It was awesome!+ Gwen said )/e were determined to raise the bar /e 7ust didn"t 'now the bar would crac' +