"Whenever I step on the ice, I feel like I can do anything."
I can remember watching the winter Olympics on TV for the first time when I was younger. My favorite event to watch was the women's figure skating; I admired how the skaters effortlessly glided across the ice with a sense of grace and confidence that I had never seen before. They all looked so flawless and at peace while they danced on the ice beneath them. At that moment, I knew that I had to try figure skating.
It wasn't until eighth grade that I finally began taking lessons in skating. At my first lesson, I was the oldest in my group, and I felt slightly awkward. I struggled with jumps at first and I began to grow frustrated. I could barely get off the ice, and when I did, I didn't land correctly. But I improved over time and I quickly advanced through the levels until I caught up to girls my age. The process of improving was difficult and seemed impossible sometimes, but I kept trying. I often compared myself to other skaters at the beginning, but soon I realized that I was not skating for others, but for myself.
I continued to take lessons throughout high school, and I quickly learned new jumps and spins. It wasn't easy; it took me years to perfect each individual skill. The sit spin was my favorite. This spin took me two years to get it just right, but when I did learn it perfectly, it was the best feeling in the world. I loved the exhilaration of spinning as fast as I could. I had never felt so free; I felt as if I were flying. I can remember doing the same spin over and over again until my legs felt as if they would give out, just because I loved the way that it made me feel. Besides the amazing feeling that it gave me, skating provided a way to feel confident in myself and who I was. As a triplet, I had always struggled with self-identity, but figure skating gave me something to identify myself with. Skating allowed me to express myself and to feel like an individual.
Although I stopped taking lessons last year and I am not as skilled as I used to be, I still try and skate whenever I can so that I can relearn my skills and ultimately learn new ones. Whenever I step on the ice, I feel like I can do anything. Even though any new skill that I learn is difficult, I know that nothing is impossible with enough time and effort. Of course, I have had my fair share of falls, and I know that I am nowhere near as good as the girls in the Olympics, but I have learned a lot and I keep learning and improving each time I skate. Skating has taught me so many valuable lessons that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. It has taught me patience, perseverance, strength, and courage, and for these reasons and many more, I believe that figure skating has changed my life for the better.
