Laurie Hernandez

Growing up and seeing Shawn Johnson, for her to call me on the phone, I think my inner child was freaking out!

Coming into 'Dancing With the Stars,' I thought it would be a lot easier.

I am extremely close to my grandma. Growing up, she would always do my hair; she was always the one who would make me chocolate milk or rice when I came home.

Growing up, there wasn't an exact Hispanic role model that I had. I didn't realize how big a difference I was making, going to the Olympics and being Hispanic, until I would be in an autograph session, and parents would come up to me and say, 'You know, our family is so proud of you, you're really doing Hispanics proud.'

The Olympics was really, really stressful because I had never done anything like it. At the same time, I was understanding something like that could never really happen again. I embraced it and took in everything.

My earliest memory was watching gymnastics on live TV and wanting to do what the 'big girls' did.

I knew when I started gymnastics, I wanted to have a lot of fun and eventually go to the Olympics. On the moments where I felt really down, I just remembered, 'You're almost there. Just keep going. Keep working hard.'

A goal of making it to the Olympic Games has motivated me to work very hard in my sport.

The Olympics, as a little kid, it was such a big goal that I created for myself, and I was able to push through and make that happen.

I've been to Tokyo-slash-Japan - we actually went to Yokohama in 2015 and 2013 for international competitions. I think that it would be really nice to go back and do a little Olympic thing there.

Now that I'm doing all these big competitions, I've learned to control my nerves and control my mindset, and I think that's where the maturity comes in.

My mother was in the Army Reserve for six years. She taught me the importance of following rules, finishing what I start, never giving up, leadership skills, teamwork, staying positive, motivated and how to pack the military way when I'm traveling!