Zhang Week 6 - Figure Skating

Figure Skating has been my sport for as long as I can remember. I've tried a bunch of other sports like gymnastics, ballet, and swimming—but they didn't last for very long. I think what really made me love and want to skate everyday was that it gave me confidence from the very beginning. As a little kid, I wasn't very graceful, and my movements were awkward. But despite this, I was able to express myself fully on the ice, and that made me feel really good. Skating consists of jumps, spins, and footwork. Each of these categories make up a skater's program, and skaters train everyday to perfect each element to look effortless on ice. Out of the three categories, I like jumping the most. It's generally the most difficult (although this does differ depending on the individual), because it requires a lot of strength both physically and mentally. There are single, double, triple, and even quadruple jumps, each relative to the number of rotations in the air. As the number of revolutions increase, so does the difficulty. Even though it means I fall countless times while training, I love attempting new jumps over and over again, because I always feel elated when I fly through the air, especially when my technique is perfect. My second favorite thing in skating is spinning. I remember watching Yulia Lipnitskaya in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, and becoming obsessed with her spins. Before her, spins were generally more old-fashioned and bland, so they weren't very exciting. But, Yulia's spins required a lot of flexibility and speed. So, everyday when I practiced, I would try to recreate Yulia's spins. It took some time to figure out how to center myself in each spin, but after a few months, I was able to spin just like her, and I was extremely proud of this. Those spins are still my favorite, and I combine them with other spins to create more difficult combinations. Skating is a huge part of my life, and it's something I will continue doing during college, and later on in the future too. Recently, I haven't been able to keep a consistent schedule with skating because there's just been so much going on with school. I think skating really helps me calm down, and relieve my stress, but it also takes a lot of time, so sometimes that ends up undoing the stress relief when I'm especially busy. When I have more time, I will try to go skating as much as possible, because it makes me feel happy and free.