Life sometimes tugs at you and you have to tug back, which is exactly what DU gymnast Paige Schuster has done over the past few years. It’s a tug that she will never forget. A tug that took the life of her dad. A tug that gave bigger meaning to the sport that she loves. And a tug that led to her attaining something that she had always done with her dad.

It was a summer day three years ago this July when Schuster’s dad, who had a private pilot’s license, and two friends headed out in his small twin-engine aircraft for a weekend of biking in Iowa. Shortly after lift-off, the plane crashed, killing all three aboard. Just like that, the Schusters’ only child was now without a father and with a new life that she would have to come to adjust to.

Many family members and friends flew in and gathered around the Schuster house to express condolences and offer support. After a while, Schuster needed a place to escape everything and that place was…the gym.

“I told myself I just have to get away from here and the gym was the best place to be, because I got to be with my closest friends and coaches and everything was just normal when I was there.”

A “new normal” perhaps, but still one that would help to start finding a way to put a smile back on her face.

If nothing else, the distraction and routine of gymnastics provided a welcome and healthy respite from dwelling on sadness. “Just everyday and going in and doing something that did not involve my dad’s accident.”

The gym is a place that Schuster has been accustomed to since the age of 3, when her mom first put her in “mom and tot” classes. Gymnastics has become a big part of her life and something she loves for many reasons.

“Just the challenge of it, there is always something new to learn and work on. In other sports I feel you can only go so far, but in gymnastics it is always changing and getting harder.”

Paige pursued a promising high school and club career, where she placed third on vault three different times at the Region 3 Championships for GK Gymnastics of Fort Collins. She put a fitting end to her high school career by winning the all-around state title as a senior with a score of 38.625.

It was the summer before her senior year of high school that the accident occurred and the title could not have been a better way to end a tough year, before a new challenge began… college.

“When I came here I didn’t really know what college gymnastics was all about. It was one of those things when I was little where you hear your goal should be to go to college and get a scholarship. When I got here I really did not know what to expect.”

Schuster’s freshman year at DU could not have gone any better, competing on vault in all 13 meets and becoming one of the Pioneers’ most consistent competitors with an average score of 9.713 and no score below a 9.65.

This season has been a little different, what with soreness to her shoulder and calf keeping Schuster out of a few meets. She competed on vault six times with an average score of 9.685 and a high of 9.725 at Ohio State. She also competed on bars four times, nailing a high score of 9.725 on fan appreciation night.

“This year has been so much fun. Last year we really thought we were going to nationals and we knew we were going this year. Everybody really wanted it this year. Making it to nationals was the goal and reaching that goal with this team was so fun.”

Not only did Schuster help her team achieve a goal this season, but she also achieved a milestone of her own before the season even started. That milestone was earning a pilot’s license. Her dad had earned his when she was in fourth grade, and she loved any chance to go high in the sky with him.

“He would teach me how to fly, but I never took lessons until the summer after his accident. I just felt like it was something I needed to do. It was always our thing together to go flying on the weekends. I just thought it was the thing to keep him in my mind and keep doing something that we would always do.”

The gym is a place where she can get away from everything, but being up in the sky by herself is a whole different experience. An experience where Schuster can be with her dad and enjoy the freedom of the skies.

“The freedom, it is just something that nobody really does that I can say I can do. You can really do whatever you want. It is so peaceful when you are up flying without anybody else.”

Schuster and her dad would take trips to Jackson Hole, Wy. and Montana, but now she just likes to cruise the skies and get away from everything.

“A lot of the times I like to go nowhere, just fly around.”

Whether flying will continue to be a recreational activity or become a profession for Schuster is still up in the air.

“I really don’t know what I want to do with it. I would love to keep it a part of my life no matter what I do. I don’t know if I just want to do it recreationally or for a job, but we’ll see.”

Schuster’s mom has been right there with her throughout the past few years.

“We are really close. We were close before my dad’s accident, but everything just made me appreciate her a lot more.”

It was that closeness that helped bring Schuster to DU, especially after the accident.

“That’s a big part of the reason I came to DU. I was looking at a lot of other schools, and when it came down to it, I was like, you know, my mom and I have been through a lot this past year, I just can’t leave here now.”

Schuster plans on taking a year off after school and then pursuing a career in chiropractics or becoming a physician’s assistant.

Whatever her plans are the gym will always hold a special place in her heart.

“It is just some place that never really changes. You just go into the gym and it is always the same, you can just put whatever is happening in your life outside of the gym away. There are always things to work on and things to be doing in the gym that require your focus and attention other than the big picture of life.”

In following her heart, Schuster has made her Dad’s dreams come true.