Who Would We Be?

Yesterday I received a scholarship application in the mail from my Synchronized Skating team. They are awarding $500 to one of four graduating seniors and one of the requirements is an essay. The essay prompt reads " Write an essay about the impact that figure skating has had on your life". When I first read the prompt I did a little fist pump, this was going to be oh so simple. But as I sat down this morning with a cup of tea and the intent of pumping out my 500 word essay, I began to realize that this was going to be harder than I thought.

See heres the problem, its hard to say which areas of my life have been impacted by skating because skating has been my whole life. Where do I draw the line, I would literally not be the same human being I am today if I had not taken Learn to Skate classes. It has been such an integral part of my life since age 5 that it is impossible to separate "non-skating me" from "skating me". Every dimension of my life has been shaped by skating, how do I put that into 500 words?

Should I start with the emotional and mental aspects? That seems the most obvious. Skating has taught me determination, perseverance, self-control, confidence, dedication, blah blah blah, those are things preached about in every sport. Socially I have been impacted. Since I opted to not play a school sport in a high school of jocks and jockettes, I didn't have as many friends as I probably could have. My family has been impacted financially as well. We spend so much money on skating every year it's hard to imagine what we would be able to do if I quit. Heck! I would be able to purchase designer shoes instead of skates and we could take fancy vacations. That said, I wouldn't trade skating for the world...even a closet filled with Manolos, Louboutins, and Jimmy Choos.

Cognitively I have been affected by skating. If I had more time to study my grades might be much higher, I might be going to an Ivy League University in the fall. But it has also taught me how to work hard and plan out my time. I am a time management pro due to my busy schedule, even if it means waking up extra early to finish a World History essay before heading to school. Physically my feet are covered in old lady like bumps and my hands are shaped by callouses.

To be honest, it seems irrelevant to imagine this parallel universe where I never skated and compare it to the universe in which I do. It is as if I am trying to imagine a life in which I only had one leg, or for a parent with a Downs Syndrome child to imagine what it would be like if the child wasn't affected. Skating will not cease to be my life either. As I age I will hopefully grow a group of students to coach and in turn make an impact on their lives. I will explore the world through Disney on Ice and experience performing on a bigger stage. My extra income from coaching might one day permit me to compensate for those lost vacations and designer shoes. Or maybe not. Predicting the future is just about as useful as looking into the past, or into a parallel universe for that matter.

I guess by asking me what impact skating has had on my life, they are asking me who I am. And to be honest, at age 17, I really don't know. But I hope to find out someday.

Best of Luck!!