Profile in courage

Mona Nedjar Mona Lisa Nedjar's four-year career with Penn gymnastics has been a profile in courage. It certainly didn't start out that way. In fact, when Nedjar came to Penn, she didn't think she would be a gymnast at all. Her choice to attend the University was based solely on academic concerns. And Nedjar didn't know anything about Penn until it was suggested by her high school counselor in Oceanside, Calif. Nedjar was not recruited by the Penn gymnastics team, and did not know if she was going to be able to join the Quakers until she arrived in Philadelphia. She had sent Penn coach Tom Kovic a letter during the summer, which he does not remember. Her arrival was a shock that became a blessing in disguise. "It was September of 1990, and I was sitting in the office getting ready for the new season," Kovic remembers. "A couple of the freshmen brought her into the office and said 'Tom, this is Mona Lisa Nedjar, and she wants to come out for the team.' It turned out to be an absolute dream?to have someone like that come in as a walk-on, and end up as co-captain. And from the get-go, she was just great, a wonderful person to be around." Nedjar started ballet classes at age three, and began gymnastics two years later as a mascot for her older brother's flag football team. Formal lessons in both followed, beginning at age six and continuing until she turned 12. "I did ballet, tap, jazz, baton," she said. "I played soccer, basketball, piano, flute. I did everything, but gymnastics was the one thing that kept going. I kept my focus on it and it's the one activity I've stuck with throughout my life." Sticking with gymnastics has proven to be a great advantage to her. Coach Glenn Wilson of West Coast Gymnastics has known Nedjar since she joined his club at age 10. "Mona first came over when she was 10 years old," Wilson said. "She had been in another club in another town, but they had gone as far as they could with her. She was loose and had poor form, but she was quick and eager to learn." Her family was always solidly behind her while she was growing up, no matter what the activity. "I feel strongly as both a parent and a professional educator that the mind and body go together," said Eleanor Nedjar, Mona's mother. "Gymnastics is where her heart is, and we're all so proud of her that she did what she wanted to do." Rising quickly through the U.S. Gymnastics Federation's age-group ranks, Nedjar won the all-around competition in the Southern California State Championships during her senior year of high school. "She's been a constant source of amazement to me," Wilson said. "She was automatic. Wind her up and send her out on the floor and she'd do a perfect routine every time." But there were times when no one thought Nedjar could ever get this far. She remained with the sport through a series of minor injuries. Nedjar's career was stellar, but disaster struck at the 1991 Ivy Championships. On the last event of the last meet of her freshman season, Nedjar had an accident that could have been career-ending. She was attempting a double-twisting full somersault in the middle of the first tumbling pass of her floor exercise routine when she overrotated and was still twisting when she landed. "I yelled in pain, and I remember hearing it throughout the whole Palestra," Nedjar said. "Everyone was in shock. My music was still going, because the music was so far away and they didn't know what had happened. And I was lying on the ground thinking, 'Oh my God, I don't know if I'm going to be able to walk out of here.' " And she didn't. Nedjar had torn her anterior cruciate ligament and had to be carried from the Palestra. There were doubts about whether she would ever compete again. But that was when she made a choice that would affect the rest of her athletic career. She decided to fight through the pain, and stay with her beloved sport. "One of the hardest things that I've ever had to experience was the surgery and the rehab after that," she said. "I never thought I'd be able to do gymnastics again after the surgery, but I've had so much support, from my friends on and off the team, and my mother." "Her brother and I were sitting in the bleachers and it happened right in front of our eyes," Eleanor Nedjar said. "It was difficult watching her in pain. But we supported her, and whatever we had to do for her, we did." Gymnastics is not the only activity in Nedjar's well-rounded life. A Chi Omega sister, she is also a West Philly tutor and a choreographer for the Arts House dance company. Nedjar is a sociology major with a Health and Medicine concentration, bound for medical school in the fall. This non-traditional approach to the pre-med program does not seem unusual to her. "I wanted to have a non-science major," she said. "That way I could learn something in a totally different field from what I'm going to be involved in, but yet related to it." As her senior year proceeds and the medical school acceptances begin coming in, Nedjar reminisces about her four years at Penn. "I guess it's similar to this season," she said. "All the years I've been working, I've been working for one goal, to make it to medical school and to become a doctor. And now that's one step away. And all my years of gymnastics have come down to this last one, my last year." With time, Nedjar has been able to give a new perspective to her devastating and painful injury. Learning the science behind what happened to her sparked a career interest, and Nedjar now hopes to specialize in orthopedic surgery. She has become a much stronger person, and an inspiration to her teammates and friends. "It's really fantastic to see her come back," Penn senior co-captain Mary Pedersen said. "When I'm scared or not confident I can always look to her. She's always got a reassuring word for everyone, and everyone looks up to her. We're very lucky to have her as captain, to have her in the gym." "Anyone who can come back from an injury of that magnitude is an inspiration to me, let alone the team," Kovic said. "She hurt, she ached, but she had this burning desire to continue. She wanted to be a member of Pennsylvania gymnastics. And she didn't give up, she didn't quit." Nedjar's recovery has been nothing short of spectacular. She started competing again in her sophomore year, on the uneven bars, adding the beam by mid-season. She added vault last year, and was an alternate to the ECAC championships on the beam. This season, she is almost back to full strength and competing on all four events. "I've come a long way," she said. "The thing that's most limiting is the pain. Mentally I'm a lot stronger. I don't think I would have been able to do this if I hadn't gained mental strength." And the support system that got her through her injury is still intact through her college career. "Considering where she was at her lowest point, she hasn't reached her highest high," Kovic said. "I want to do whatever I can to make her experience the best of bests as a Pennsylvania gymnast." It seems like she has been through it all, and emerged stronger than ever. Everyone agrees that Mona Lisa Nedjar is truly a special person. "You don't come across individuals like that very often," Kovic said. "She has not only made a difference in our program, but she has touched me. She's a rare one."