David Willett

When David Willett started gymnastics at the age of 5, the likelihood of him competing at the college level was virtually non-existent.

Willett had endless energy as a child, often breaking things at home and flipping off the couch. With his sister already in gymnastics, his parents put him in the sport as a way to get him out of the house and stay active, but a love for the sport did not come right away.

"Gymnastics really wasn't a natural fit for me at first," Willett said. "I remember being scared to even go to practices sometimes. I'd hide in lockers because I was so afraid of doing anything related to the sport."

Despite the initial fear, he became more interested in the sport, quickly progressing from recreational classes to working with his first competitive coach, who helped Willett view the sport in a different light.

"It started to mold into the qualities that I started to show, like my determination and that idea of working towards something every day," said Willett. "I was really goal oriented at a young age and gymnastics really aligns with that. Once I started catching the routine of practicing and trying to make an improvement, I quickly grew to love it and went into competitive gymnastics pretty quickly."

Willett paid close attention to collegiate programs as a young competitive gymnast and dreamed of the opportunity to compete collegiately. During his junior year of high school, a string of serious injuries meant his dream was in jeopardy. Willett's father always had an "academics first" mindset and encouraged him to focus on his academic potential, but he refused to give up on his dream. His mother also emphasized academics, but she saw how it pained Willett to be away from the sport he loved and was a major supporter of his goal to compete collegiately.

"I wasn't going to let anything interfere with my chances of doing gymnastics at this level," Willett said. "At the end of the day, I got to be a part of a team where I didn't have to give up any academic prowess at all so I really have the best of both worlds."

In addition to Michigan offering both excellent academic and athletic opportunities, Willett recalls feeling an immediate sense of comfort and belonging alongside the diversity of students on campus.

"Michigan has people excelling in all walks of life and that's an experience I really wanted because that's the real world," he said. "We have so many different backgrounds, types of people and cultures, even just within a team and that was something that I just fell in love with the minute I came on campus."

Once deciding to attend Michigan, Willett started to think about a potential major and career path. Since his father is a physician, he grew up surrounded by medicine and always had an interest in the medical field, but never thought he wanted to be a doctor.

"I gravitated towards biomedical engineering due to my analytical skills and (because) the way I think is very robotic," Willet said. "I thought I could combine these passions and pursue a degree in biomedical engineering."

However, after completing two internships at Eli Lilly and Medtronic, he felt something was missing and realized he needed to be fulfilled through interpersonal relationships and interactions with others. Willet credited this realization to his role as president of the adaptive gymnastics club, which offers gymnastics lessons for children with disabilities.

Upon realizing his true passion is working with others, Willett reconsidered becoming a physician and decided to fully commit to the pre-medicine path. He had the opportunity to shadow surgeons at Michigan Medicine across multiple specialties, including orthopedics, pediatrics and cardiology. He admitted seeing the "miracle work" done in pediatrics and cardiology confirmed his desire to be a physician and changed his perspective of medicine for the better.

Alongside discovering his true passions and career aspirations, Willett's time as a student-athlete has pushed him to grow and adapt as leader. During his freshman and sophomore years, he was a quiet leader, preferring to lead by example as he worked to establish his role on the team. His approach to leadership changed when he was named as one of the team captains this year.

"I've had to learn and navigate the ways of motivating individuals in different ways," he said. "Some people want you to be upfront and give them the pressure or push to succeed and then other people need more support. It's helped me juggle different personalities and that's something I'm really going to find useful in my career in the future.

"As a leader, I've been able to implement change and that's what I like the most. In leadership roles, you can create the change that you want to see and have that kind of ability."

While his gymnastics career and time at Michigan are coming to an end, he already has his sights set on his next athletic challenge: marathon running. He got the idea of taking up running back in 2021 when he participated in a run-a-thon where he raised $7,000 for Be The Match and ran more than 50 miles.

"I know I need athletic goals to really be happy," he said. "Running is very different from gymnastics because gymnastics is a more sprint-oriented sport, so it's going to be a difficult, but a fun, transition."

Looking ahead, Willett intends to stay busy post-graduation. He took the MCAT back in August and will be using the next year to apply to medical school. He has plans to move to the Cincinnati area to do research in a hospital setting and also will coach a Special Olympics team.

"I'm really looking forward to the next step in my career," said Willett. "It's going to be interesting trying to fill the void of gymnastics in my life, but I'm really excited for this new challenge and (I know) it's going to be really rewarding work."