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Jumping In

December 02, 2013

Tori Boggs is a nine-time world champ in jump roping. Her top priority? Her academic career at Ohio State, where she's an Honors Collegium student on full scholarship.


Like many little girls her age, Tori Boggs picked up a jump rope when she was five.

That's where her story stops being typical.

The West Virginia native is a nine-time jump roping world champion who has performed with Cirque du Soleil and shared her sport with audiences in Europe, Africa and Asia. And recently, she's been featured on CNN and the Huffington Post.

Boggs, who's majoring in industrial design, says the sport helped her develop the work ethic and perseverance that paved the way for her academic success. Two years into her career at Ohio State, she considers herself a Buckeye for life.

"I love it here," she says. "I can't imagine myself anywhere else."

Boggs, who turned down Brown and Yale to come to Ohio State, was drawn here by the university's Honors Collegium. The program has helped her apply for grants and connected her with faculty mentors.

"The great thing about the Honors Collegium is the resources that you can get from the group," she says. "The collegium was the deciding factor."

The collegium is part of Ohio State's Honors & Scholars program, designed to give a high-achieving group of undergraduates access to leadership, service and academic enrichment opportunities.

"The Honors Collegium acts as a navigation system for a select group of honors students, helping them through their journey at Ohio State," says Linn Van Woerkom, associate provost and director for Honors & Scholars. "Tori has literally jumped in and taken advantage of all that the collegium and Ohio State have to offer, while keeping her focus on her academics."

At Ohio State, Boggs has shared her passion for the sport by founding the first official college jump rope club--one of more than 1,000 student organizations available through the Ohio Union. Up next? Taking the team to local elementary schools, where she can help Columbus kids develop healthy exercise habits.

"As much as I love to jump rope, it is even more rewarding sharing it with others," she says. "I'm so excited to bring a new sport that combines healthy exercise with leadership and teamwork development to the Columbus area youth. We're going to have a lot of fun!"