Arms outstretched, my chubby little 3-year-old feet clad in each of two small plastic food containers, I am caught forever in a grainy photograph sailing across our kitchen floor in the best approximation of a spiral a toddler could make. In ballet, a spiral is an arabesque and I love dancing. (My mother said I tap danced the last trimester before I was born.) It’s true that I can’t get from one room to another without dancing, but when I announced to my parents that I wanted to figure skate, they wondered how a 3-year-old could know that she wanted anything so surely. They took some convincing and only after I’d ruined all the food storage containers, did they decide that I was serious. Looking back, I see that my single-minded perseverance, positive and creative attitude, and focus served me even then and this strong mental attitude proved my powerful advantage in a competitive field.
Thus and, as my father says, blissfully ignorant of the costs that lay ahead, my parents engaged a coach and took me to the rink: a cavernous, bracingly cold, and enormously vaulted …show more content…
Now, back down on that ice and let’s see you get up on your own.” She was right! Ice is not only hard, it burns, but the freedom and thrill of skating were encouragement enough for me. From that first day, I did not hesitate or fear falling, because my focus was on the pleasure I got from skating. I didn’t think about the difficulty of acquiring skills and it did not occur to me to doubt myself. Like most children, I had no reason to question myself or wonder if I looked foolish to others. Being completely engaged in an activity I loved, I was focused on acquiring the next amazing skill and this joy helped me progress quickly to compete and place first at the age of 8 amongst a heat 17 teens at the Eastern Great Lakes Regional
Thus and, as my father says, blissfully ignorant of the costs that lay ahead, my parents engaged a coach and took me to the rink: a cavernous, bracingly cold, and enormously vaulted …show more content…
Now, back down on that ice and let’s see you get up on your own.” She was right! Ice is not only hard, it burns, but the freedom and thrill of skating were encouragement enough for me. From that first day, I did not hesitate or fear falling, because my focus was on the pleasure I got from skating. I didn’t think about the difficulty of acquiring skills and it did not occur to me to doubt myself. Like most children, I had no reason to question myself or wonder if I looked foolish to others. Being completely engaged in an activity I loved, I was focused on acquiring the next amazing skill and this joy helped me progress quickly to compete and place first at the age of 8 amongst a heat 17 teens at the Eastern Great Lakes Regional