I remember walking into Gander Mountain as a young girl and buying a white North Face jacket. Little did I know, this was the beginning of my figure skating career. Every other girl at my rink wore bright-colored North Face jackets to our practice sessions and I longed for one. It felt magical as I tried it on and we rushed to the checkout to make our purchase. I was so excited to wear it that night. I loved to skate and pushed myself to earn all of my skating badges to iron onto my navy blue warm-up jacket. It was official. I was hooked with each new accomplishment.
Jumps and spins came easy to me when I was younger. I had a wonderful coach named Robin Dillon who encouraged me to succeed. She continues to be one of my favorite people to this day. I was terribly sad when she announced her retirement two years ago. Robin had been my primary coach for 11 years and I was not entirely sure who my new coach would be.
Meanwhile, I remained on the Sharper Image synchronized skating team. The team had been part of the club for years and had traveled to many different competitions throughout New York State. I also continued with my ice dancing lessons. I was fortunate enough to have Archie Burton III, the only male Gold Dance Medalist in the state, as my dance coach and partner. He always believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself. He fondly gave me the nicknames "Jasmine the Aggressive", "Jasmine the Powerful", and "Jasmine the Confident" as reminders to play up my strengths and forget my weaknesses. This is one of the greatest lessons I have learned in life so far and I am grateful for Archie's guidance.
In 2015, I became the unofficial team captain of the Sharper Image since I was the oldest girl on the team. All of the girls on my team were fantastic skaters and I really enjoyed getting to know every one of them. I loved seeing them accomplish their goals and build their character. Although the next oldest girl on the team was 12 and the youngest was 8, I looked past their ages.
As a team, we competed at the Port City Invitational in Oswego where we took home the silver and made our local newspapers. A few months later, we headed up to Lake Placid to compete in the Empire State Games. Lake Placid is a beautiful town with a rich history. The Winter Olympics were held there in 1932 and 1980. It was amazing to be skating in the Olympic arena where so many famous skaters had performed before. It provided our team with several chances to practice off-ice and explore the town. On competition night, we gathered in one of the hotel rooms to do hair and makeup and have our final pep talks with our coaches, Audrey and Angie. They always worked together on choreography and planning so our team could have the best skating experience possible. It did not even matter that we didn't win a medal at the games, just the experience and newfound confidence we left with was enough. We had a great group of people in the crowd cheering us on.
Now as a graduating senior, I realize just how fast those 13 years have whizzed by. No, I have not accomplished all I want as a skater, but I am getting there and growing my skills. When leaving for college, I will miss my skating family the most. I will miss walking into the freezing arena that I call my second home. I will miss the bright flashes of North Faces as younger skaters twirl by. I will miss preparing for a huge show where we all wait backstage for our turn in the spotlight.
But my journey is not over. I am starting my own synchronized skating team in the fall at SUNY Oneonta. Slowly but surely, I am gaining interest and already have nine people who want to hold a position on our team. We plan to perform during hockey games and just come together to do what we love and pursue our skating-related goals. I want to give my new team everything I have to make everyone gain a great experience like I had growing up.
