Brandi Personett acts like a child.

At night, when roommate Allie Southard tries to sleep, Personett will ask to keep the light on, claiming she's studying. Southard gives in to Personett's wish, but shortly after, will look up and see Personett passed out on her bed. The light's still on.

Personett is also listed at 4-foot-11, giving her the appearance of a child.

But watch her perform in the gym, and Personett makes gymnastics look like child's play.

As a sophomore, Personett has risen near the top of almost every statistical category for the No. 14 Nittany Lions. She leads the Lions in vault and the floor exercise, also earning top-25 national rankings as an individual in vault and floor.

"She's doing a great job; she's really a hard worker in the gym," Penn State coach Steve Shephard said. "She does what she's told, she doesn't question a lot ... and obviously she's a very talented athlete as well."

Sophomores are rarely looked up to as leaders. But when 10 of the 12 team members are underclassmen, exceptions can be made. Southard said Personett exemplifies distinct leadership qualities that make up for the little seniority the team has.

"She goes pushing people through if they're having a hard time. She'll be the one to go up and ask them if they're OK and be like, 'It's a hard day, but you can push through it,' " Southard said. "Even if she were to go to an upperclassman and push them a little bit, they know it's because she cares about the team."

Southard gets a heavy dose of Personett on a daily basis. Together, they joke around a lot, and Southard said Brandi is bubbly and laid-back all the time.

"She's very fun and loving, very outgoing, very positive. She's not real moody," Shephard said. "She's a well-adjusted kid, has a lot of support from her family. That makes a big difference."

Having a lot of family support is an understatement.

Originally born in Missouri, Personett's family gathered their belongings and moved to Texas so Brandi could train at Champion Gymnastics Academy with coach Kellie Mizoguchi. Mizoguchi, along with Personett's boyfriend, is her biggest outlet for support.

"[Mizoguchi] has pushed me to limits that I never thought I would get to. Without her, I would be a really bad gymnast," Personett said. "She has helped me inside and outside the gym. I go to her for support when I'm having trouble in the gym."

Personett's father, Ken, said the decision to move to Texas came from his wife Viki's online research of the gymnastics programs with the highest success rates.

"Texas was the place to be. Kellie has a lot of experience and a great work ethic," Ken said. "The way she conducts her business ... Kellie has a different philosophy, she uses a lot of positive reinforcement."

Ken said only about 30 gymnasts nationwide are invited to the types of academies Brandi attended, and there are only a handful of gyms with coaches and facilities that can handle that kind of kid.

At the time of the move, Brandi had no idea she was the main reason for the move. Both Ken and Viki quit their jobs and left the Kansas City area for Texas. However, the move was not as difficult as it may seem.

Brandi's older brother, Kenny, was just entering high school, and her older sister, Lindsey, is a performer who was in the process of graduating high school.

Ken and Viki said they have no regrets about the move.

"We didn't want to put that kind of pressure on her that if she wasn't successful, she's to blame," Ken said. "Obviously, she's a talented kid, and as long as she's willing to put in work, we were going to do everything to try and help her."

When Brandi finally realized she was the primary reason for switching addresses, there was nothing she could do. She learned her father had contacted a local paper in the Kansas City area shortly after she left for Penn State to keep the local area informed of her decision.

"[The article] mentioned the reason we moved was because of her, and I think when she read that, we had already moved back to the Kansas City area, so there was no added pressure on Brandi," her father said.

Brandi has adjusted well from Texas to State College and into the life of a typical student-athlete. During the season, she lifts twice a week for an hour with the team before going to class. She'll grab lunch with her boyfriend and then practice for close to three hours before hitting the books and sitting down with the team for dinner.

Her relationship with her teammates is marked by a kind of camaraderie developed before she signed on to compete for Shephard.

When she narrowed her choices down to Penn State and Michigan, Brandi knew where she was headed.

"I just liked the girls and coaches. All around, it was really a nice place," she said about Happy Valley.

And while Brandi is only two years removed from Katy, Texas, she is already losing her accent. In fact, living in the Northeast already shows up in her voice.

"Allie said I'm starting to get some New York in me. My mom makes fun of me for it," she said. "I stopped saying y'all. I used to say it all the time. I think it has gone down a bit. [The team] is rubbing off on me more."

Since Brandi's Texas attitude appears to have little effect on her teammates, it might be easier for her competitive nature to rub off on her teammates. Having a grandfather who is in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame instilled a competitive edge in her, she said.

And yet, Brandi's humility is perhaps her greatest attribute. Despite being highly recruited by big-time programs, Utah and Michigan, she chose Penn State, a program even Shephard admits is second tier. Despite coming off a season where she was named Big Ten freshman of the year, Brandi understands the potential to improve is still there.

"There are a lot of people that are way better than I am," she said. "So just going out there, it's a God-given talent. I didn't have anything to do with it. Just thinking of that, there's so many better people out there."

With a gymnastics career already riddled with a multitude of accolades, lofty expectations seem to be within Brandi's grasp. Before Penn State, she was a Junior Olympics National team member, compiling third-place finishes on vault, bars and the all-around at the 2006 Nationals. She was named 2007 Big Ten freshman of the year, thanks to Big Ten titles in vault and the all-around.

A resume like that might draw Olympic aspirations, but not for Personett.

She said her future lies in pediatric nursing instead of on the vault, bars, beam or floor.

"I'm definitely done with gymnastics after college. I don't think my body will last too much longer," she said. "I want to travel for a while. ... North Carolina, Colorado, California, somewhere new, different. Until I have to settle down, I'm not going to."