Senior signoff: Kalyany Steele reflects on the community she found in UCLA gymnastics

As a child, I had absolutely no fear. When I was around four years old, I took a swim class in which I would sneak away to jump off the diving board into the deep end at every opportunity that I found my instructor wasn’t looking, which was a problem because I couldn’t swim. Meaning, my instructor had to rush over in a panic to rescue me every time I took the leap. So, when I got kicked out of swim, my mom put me in gymnastics. At that age, I didn’t enjoy landing my skills as much as I enjoyed falling face-first onto the squishy mats. I fell in love with gymnastics because I loved the feeling of falling, but I stayed in love with it when I discovered I love the feeling of flying.

At age 10, I saw college gymnastics on the TV for the first time. Young women in beautiful navy-blue leotards, with cursive letters reading “UCLA” on the hip. Gorgeous sparkles were emitting from their smiles and their spirits just as much as the jewels on their sleeves, and I was captivated. I had my eyes glued to the screen as I watched these women radiating with love and excitement as they stuck their landings and became totally engulfed by their teammates celebrating with them. I watched their floor routines with fascination. Each one told a different story, and they had me at the edge of my seat as I waited for the next UCLA performance. From that moment on, I knew that I wanted to wear that sparkly blue leotard one day with those four letters on my back.

At age 11, I switched fully to online school, truly dedicating my life to gymnastics and sacrificing what would’ve been my experience of the entirety of middle school and high school. I pursued elite gymnastics, eventually leading to me being given a spot on the UCLA gymnastics team, which I’d been dreaming of for so long, on a full athletic scholarship. My dad, a two-time Olympic bobsledder, was always keen on the message of the importance of knowing who I am outside of my sport, no matter how all-encompassing it starts to feel. This is so one day when I’m no longer doing gymnastics, I’m still left with my full self because I didn’t make my sport my identity. Yes, I was an athlete. But I also liked theater, dancing, writing, music, activism and filmmaking. Now, at the end of my time at UCLA, I may not be a gymnast anymore, but I am a performer, a dancer, a writer, a musician, an activist, a filmmaker and even a public speaker – something I never would’ve expected from myself.

I came into UCLA bright-eyed and unsure of what the future would hold in this totally new world. I had come straight from homeschool to the biggest public university in the country, and it felt like I was four years old again, jumping into the deep end. But my new teammates made this place 1,000 miles away from the life I’d known feel like home. Olympic gymnasts whom I’d idolized were now giving me high-fives in practice and inviting me to their apartment for dinner. I felt the love that I had seen on the TV screen almost a decade ago, but now I’m the one celebrating with them when they stick their landings, as well as the one being showered with love when I stick mine. One of the things about UCLA gymnastics that I take a lot of pride in is the way we compete for something bigger than ourselves, especially in our diversity and inclusion meets. Before the pride meet in my freshman year, I came out to my team as bisexual. From then on, my whole world changed. I was now competing not just as an ally of the LGBTQIA+ community, but as a representative. With the help of Deanna Hong, I shared my coming out story publicly and it began a domino effect of pride meets being hosted by other universities, and NCAA women’s gymnasts from all different schools stepping forward and wearing their colors of the rainbow proudly. In my time at UCLA, injuries prevented me from competing as much as I had expected to, but I am so much more than just a gymnast, and I consider the experiences that I did have to be more valuable than anything. Through the platform UCLA gymnastics has given me, it’s allowed me to be a kind of symbol of hope for young LGBTQIA+ gymnasts that they can be loved for exactly who they are, and that type of love does exist.

I am so grateful for everything this school has given me. I’m grateful for the Den, the greatest hype squad, and the sound of their roaring cheers at every home meet. I’m grateful to have been given the chance to have an impact on people’s lives all over the world, the same way this team impacted mine when I was watching them as a child. I’m grateful for these four years where I never stopped dancing. Most importantly, I’m grateful for the great big Bruin family that’s come with me along for this ride, including staff, admin, academic counselors, coaches, trainers and teammates. Because of all of you, I live my life in full color, though I will now always have a special place in my heart for blue and gold.

Kalyany <3

Steele competed for UCLA gymnastics from 2020 to 2023.