Matthew Sperry
Stanford Online High School
Matthew Sperry can trace his love of skating back to age 5, when he attended a friend’s birthday party at an ice rink. He was so enchanted that he refused to leave the rink until his parents signed him up for lessons.
Ice hockey led to ice theater (yes, that’s a thing), and then to ice dancing—the sport in which he has competed nationally and internationally since age 15, winning silver and bronze medals in the 2018 and 2019 U.S. Figure Skating championships, respectively, with his then-partner Zoe Sensenbrenner.
Though the pandemic sidelined the 2021 competition season, Sperry maintained a rigorous practice schedule, devoting 20 to 25 hours a week to strength training, ballet and ice work. In February, he was one of 11 skaters out of more than 120 applicants nationwide named to U.S. Figure Skating’s 2021 Scholastic Honors Team. He hopes to compete in the Olympic Games in his late 20s or early 30s.
“I really like the freedom of movement and expression, and I like the fine details and technique,” says the Falls Church teen, now 18. “You can find a connection with the music and show that to the audience.”
Sperry arranged his high school years largely around skating. He attended Stanford Online High School so he could snag ice time in the middle of the day, but he didn’t sacrifice academics. He took college-level math, philosophy and AP Physics, scoring a perfect 36 on the ACT. This fall, he’ll study engineering at the University of Michigan, with a minor in philosophy and the goal of eventually pursuing a career in robotics.
His achievements are all the more impressive in light of his dyslexia, which wasn’t diagnosed until he was in third grade. Over the years, he has learned how to advocate for the accommodations he needs, like text-to-speech software, even when teachers were less than understanding of his disability. “I’ve had to learn how to see it as a strength rather than a weakness and work with it,” he says.
Sperry is also an Eagle Scout; to earn that rank, he built a playhouse roof and designed a rainwater collection system at Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church. He also volunteers his time teaching ice dancing and skating skills.
He could have delayed college for skating, but didn’t want to put his education on hold. Plus, he says—there’s an ice-dancing academy with top-notch coaches about a half-hour away from U-M’s main campus. –Lisa Lednicer