 Pari gbolohun yii: O dagba ni Napanee, Ontario, Smart mu bọọlu inu agbọn ni Ernestown Secondary School, ṣaaju ki o to forukọsilẹ ni Ile-ẹkọ giga Simon Fraser ti NAIA nibi ti o ti mu lati 1997 si 1999 ṣaaju ki o to gbe lọ si Carleton. O gba ife-eye CIS National Championship pẹlu awọn Ravens ni ọdun 2003, lakoko ti o n gba awọn ọlá First Team All-Canadian. Ó jẹ ọmọ ẹgbẹ Team Canada ní : 2003 World University Games ni South Korea ati ki o dun ọjọgbọn fun BBC Bayreuth ni German 2. Bundesliga ni awọn apakan ti akoko 2003-04. Lẹyìn tí ó padà sí Canada, Smart gba oyè PhD ní ẹka ìdarí ní Yunifásítì Carleton. Iwadii ẹkọ ẹkọ ẹkọ-ọfẹ rẹ ni A Longitudinal Case Study of a Public-Sector Change Team. 