Skating!

For those of you who follow my blog on the DIS website you may not know that I am and always have been a figure skater! I started when I was about three because my dad played hockey and wanted his daughters to follow suit. Well Kristi Yamaguchi changed all that when she won Olympic gold and appeared on the Wheaties box, becoming my sister's idol. We dropped hockey sticks for figure skates and never looked back. My family became immersed in the world of figure skating. My mom drove my sister and I to countless competitions where she did our hair, made last minute adjustments to the dresses she sewed for us, cheered us on and helped put smiles on our faces when things didn't go well.

My sister, Robin, and I at one of our first competitions.

My friend Laura and I skating to Moulin Rouge in the ice show - we were no older than ten.

Skating in an ice show my junior year of high school.

Practicing senior year - I was so fast even the camera couldn't catch me...

I have lived through skating my entire life. In high school I went against mandatory sports to skate on my own, sacrificing the fun of being on a team for the thing I loved most. It definitely wasn't always easy - I'd see my friends laughing on their way back from a soccer game or walking to tennis practice together - but I still had skating, and that's all that mattered. By the end of my senior year I had passed my senior moves in the field and gold compulsory dances. My freestyle years were rather sad compared to those I spent working on ice dance, I only made it to the juvenile level because of three nice judges and my desire to want a solo in the annual ice show. I loved skating and went to the rink almost every day to skate on my own in the freezing cold. That was until college, when I went to the city with no rinks and traded skating for a sorority. I was on a synchronized team for a year, but wasn't in love and decided to pursue other interests. But skating still has a special place in my heart.

White Ice, my synchro team freshman year! I'm on the very right in the front row.

Getting ready to compete - second from the right!

Before Thanksgiving, DIS announced the last student event of the semester: outdoor ice skating. I was so happy I immediately signed up and marked the date in my planner. Even if I don't have time to skate on a weekly basis, I will still bend over backwards to get on the ice and this was no exception. Friday night I met up with my friends and other students at the train station and we all went skating! The rink was a lot smaller than we thought and hadn't been cleaning in days. My figure skates my mom so wonderfully mailed me stayed safe in my backpack - I wouldn't dare ruin my skates, they cost more than you'd believe. Instead I traded figure skates for hockey skates. This was a very interesting adventure since I have never in my life worn hockey skates - not that I can remember anyway. There are no toe picks and no back edge, you're stuck in the middle of the blade. I met three other figure skaters also there to experience their love of skating in another country, and we all agreed this was very strange. We skated for an hour going around and around. We could have stayed all night. One plus of hockey skates - your toes never get cold because the front of the skate is square and doesn't cut off your circulation! That's always a good thing...

Me and my fabulous rental hockey skates.

The rink... it was interesting.

Overall I had an amazing time skating in Copenhagen. It was something I had hoped to get into all semester and it never worked out. To be able to skate made me so happy. In high school I would always say if I had a bad day at school, I'd have a good day at the rink, and vice versa. If I'm feeling down it always cheers me up, and if I'm in a good mood, I set the bar high and just keep pushing it higher. Sorry if this post was a little personal and confusing, but for me it was an amazing experience and I wanted to remember it well. And document the day I wore hockey skates, because that's not happening again any time soon!

- Devon

PS - the picture at the very top is me in first grade wearing my highly desired and begged for purple and green snow suit. Snow pants were so kindergarten. I'm on the pond across from my house growing up, where I learned how to skate. My front tooth was missing for about a year, I didn't loose a tooth until first grade and was desperate to loose another, so I yanked it out. Bad idea.