Skating taught me what community truly means
BY JENNIFER WESTER One of my most vivid memories of
being a skater is from the fi rst rink where I trained in Dallas, Texas — Americas Ice Garden at Plaza of the Americas. There was a food court, hotel and two 25-story glass- adorned offi ce buildings that surrounded, and were linked by, the 12-story glass atrium where the rink was situated. Rainbows cast down onto the ice sur-
face at various points of the day from large hanging prisms in the windows that fi ltered
Wester and her ice dance partner and husband,Daniil Barantsev, perform at the 2008 U.S. Championships. Jennifer Wester
in sunlight falling between the indoor palm trees. I thought this is what all ice rinks looked like. There was a constant stream of potential audience members and a surface on which one could seemingly defy the laws of physics. What more could a girl want? Naturally, that is where I fell for skating. One might say it was love at even-
tual sight. I’d tried just about every other sport under the sun, my parents would tell you. I was 11, and not exactly the perfect candidate for elite fi gure skating goals. Nevertheless, in that mysterious way that love works, skating became a childhood passion that blossomed into a life-changing blessing. Yes, there were obstacles, lessons and heartbreaks, but there was also so much more. Skating was the sport that I became quickly enthralled with as a girl, studied and mastered as a teen and young adult, and has continued to enter my life in unexpected and wonderful ways as an individual out in the greater world (if any world could be better than rainbows, palm trees and an ice rink). When I say I’m in love with skating to-
Wester enjoys the company of some skating friends. 46 APRIL 2017
day, it isn’t about the athletics or the artistry; not even the world travel and mind-opening
international experiences skating aff orded me. Rather, it’s the character that skating provided me that makes me love it today, even more than ever before. Even now, as the lifestyle of physical skating fades into the bustle of day-to-day life as a scholar, mother and business owner, I am eager to keep a slice of skating in my life to remind me of the need for action, presence and commitment. There is a saying that it doesn’t matter
how far you’ve moved, only that you keep moving; keep going, get up and make some- thing happen. As a 30-something mother of two, I refl ect thankfully on how much this thought, and this sport, continue to better me. Whether it’s walking into my children’s new school and fi nding ways to support and volunteer, moving to a new community and taking a role in the leadership board, or dreaming up my next big endeavor for which I must show up every day, skating taught me how to get up, be present and give it all I have for the benefi t of a goal greater than any one of us; how to build a family greater than any one bloodline could ever support. Skating taught me how to live as one in many and with many as one.
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