Personal Narrative Essay: The Joy Of Jumping

Change, though scary, is inevitable, and it often leads us to a place better than one we could have possibly imagined for ourselves. For far too long in my life, I forced myself to stay dormant, because even though I didn’t like where I was, I felt that moving on meant failure. Since I was four years old, I was a freestyle ice skater, which means I would do jumps and spins. I loved skating- the feeling of flying while doing a jump, or performing in front of a panel of judges felt exhilarating. That is until one fateful day when I was ten years old. Working on a jump, I leapt into the air and pulled in tightly; trying to get the rotations I need to land the jump. But as I started to come down, I could feel something felt off, and though my feet did hit the ice, the rest of my body quickly followed- I slammed my head into the ice, which resulted in a concussion. A more careful skater to begin with, I would constantly overthink things when it came to jumping, but ever since that day, I would stop myself, afraid I would again get hurt. I continued, though, and forced myself to try to push through the nerves, but I all but stopped progressing in skills and I felt miserable. Now fast forward to about a year and a half ago- on and off with …show more content…
I told myself countless reasons why it was imperative to stay in freestyle, but none of them ended up being true. I didn’t waste anything- I learned valuable lessons and got irreplaceable opportunities while doing freestyle, and after switching, I climbed the ranks of ice dance much more rapidly than the ice dancers around me because of my previous skating experience. I didn't disappoint anyone, including myself. Most importantly, I realized that it is okay to change your dreams. It doesn't mean your dreams weren't important to you then, and changing them means you are growing as a person.