I wanted to be an ice princess, too, and that’s how I started to skate. My nanny took me every other week be- cause my mom and dad were not together and every time I went to skate it was like starting all over. I would get mad at my nanny and leave the ice and sit in the stands pouting. My nanny even took me on Friday nights to public skate even though I called it free skate. One day when we were at the rink my nanny saw a paper for lessons, and because I was only 3 and a half, she signed me up for tod- dlers. While I was taking lessons, I saw a bunch of other girls at the other end of the ice and I began to mimic them and the next thing I know I am a member of the skating club called Bay State Blades in Brockton (Mass.). I was the smallest one but it really didn’t matter to me, because I wanted to be an ice princess. I was inspired by a lot of the older girls, and whatever they did I would try to do. Ever since I stepped on that ice, it felt like I was born to skate and I was supposed to be on that ice. I began getting coached by Elizabeth
Shaughnessy. She is a very sweet and nice coach and my nanny started signing me up for the competitions. My fi rst competition was when I was 4 and I won the gold. I didn’t win the gold all the time and I got upset, but my nanny told me I can’t always win the gold. She said it’s not about the gold, it’s about how you skate. She constantly tells me “You can do all things through Christ, who strengthens you” and “ev- erything is possible if you set your mind to it.” I would never put myself down anymore be- cause I knew wherever or whenever I skated, God was going to be with me at all times. I go so many places and have been to a lot of competitions, and I always try to practice my hardest. My favorite part of skating is that I have faith to do anything I set my mind to. I absolutely love that I have the same coach, be- cause I’m comfortable practicing with her. She’s probably one of the biggest reasons I am where I am at right now, and because I have the cour- age of my wonderful nanny on my side to help stay motivated to reach my goal; it’s like one day I believe I will be that beautiful ice princess I saw on Disney Channel. Hopefully when I’m older, I will be able to
teach younger kids to ice skate and follow their dreams. I greatly appreciate this opportunity; most other kids just give up on their dreams but I’m going to chase it down and continue. I’ve been lucky to visit many places such
as Lake Placid, N.Y., for a competition. T is year will be my fourth year going there. T e second year I went there I injured my leg; I had one more event to do and I went out there with a hurt leg and skated around the ice to show everyone that nothing will ever stop me from following my dreams. In 2011 I went to the State Games of America in San Diego, where I placed with one
silver medal and one bronze medal. Since I was in the top three, I got to go to the next State Games of America in 2013. I needed to raise money and my cousin Shayla and my friend Erica Santosuosso helped me raise the money I needed to go to the State Games of America in Hershey, Pa., in 2013. I placed second in the open gold category, received 11th place in artis- tic pre-juvenile and I placed sixth in pre-juve- nile free skate, which was my fi rst time in that level. I am tested for preliminary but I skated up a level because my coach said I should. A lot of the past skaters who went to the
Olympics are inspiring me now to keep going for my dreams such as Nancy Kerrigan and Michelle Kwan, and a lot of other absolutely amazing skaters. I know one day that I can be in the Olympics if I try hard and follow my dreams. I have been inspired so much and have had many opportunities along with a helpful family who tell me to keep going. My uncle Quan Laver Blue, who passed away in Febru- ary of this year on my brother’s birthday, would always tell me to keep going for my dreams and never give up on anything, and I won’t. I thank everyone such as the people who helped me get the money to buy my new skates when someone broke into my nanny’s car and took them. I was upset but everyone that helped me inspired me to keep going. I know that no matter if anyone puts me down or stands in my way, I am going to be an Olympic skater one day. I am saying this because I can do all things that I set my mind to.
seem hopeless, if you have hope and try, you can overcome them. Sure, I wish the plane nev- er crashed, but you can’t change the past. Like in the video, you can’t change the past but you can change the future with the present. It encouraged me to try everything and
showed me what skating meant to them, for me and for the whole world. Up until now, fi g- ure skating was just a fun, competitive sport for me. After watching RISE, I started to realize the sport’s deep meaning as well as its artistic side and feeling of freedom. It’s a sport with a rich history and the video taught me that it’s not just about skating around the rink.
Surviving life’s trials Nathan Rensing
(JUVENILE WINNER) Have you felt that there are times life just
Lessons learned Nanami Endo
(PRE-JUVENILE WINNER)
When I saw RISE, it was the fi rst time I’d learned about the tragic accident. I saw pictures of it in SKATING magazine related to the Me- morial Fund, but I didn’t really read the stories. I only read Kids Spotlight and the games. T e skaters in the video really moved my
heart. I knew them and their achievements and they were my goal. After the video, they in- spired me to understand that even if situations
seems to do everything it can to smash you down? I am sure that those whose lives were touched by the Sabena Flight 548 plane crash, which killed the entire U.S. Figure Skating Team on its way to the 1961 World Champi- onships, felt this way. T e survivors. T e ones who were left behind. T e ones who were bat- tered, but not broken. I am inspired to skate by many people — my coaches, my parents, my friends, the audience — but to choose, well it’s a dead heat. Honestly, as skaters we have all felt this: that time before a competition when you question why you do this. Why do we put ourselves in front of so many people who don’t even know or truly understand us? Why throw ourselves out to be judged? What if things fall apart? T en, the moments pass, as our coaches inevi- tably calm us down, and we have to love them for that. T ey give us hope, allowing us to con- tinue, to survive. When I get to my position and look upon the crowd, I feel inspired by having the complete attention of so many peo- ple. T e bigger the crowd, the better I do. But that doesn’t help while I’m off the ice, where I am vulnerable to the blows that life deals me. Even so I continue till my next skate, always surviving.
SKATING 29
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