The most important thing about skating is that it teaches you to do the things you should do before you do the things you want to do.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Skating has always been a major area of interest to me.
My coaches have told me my muscles and body structure are perfect for skating.
The skill set for hockey is so specific to skating and if you haven't been skating as a kid it's impossible to play - and I wasn't a skater.
My parents were of the opinion, because they had started skating very young, that you should have something that you do that you care about, because it structures your life as you're growing up.
Ice skating is very difficult. It takes a lot of discipline and a lot of hard work. It's fun, but you are there on the ice every morning freezing and trying to do these moves and these tricks.
Skating isn't about the medals or the results. I love what I do. It's much more fun to win, but you cannot every time.
The mind is pretty powerful. In skating, you learn to click into that zone and focus not necessarily on what you're doing but if you're doing it well.
If you skate with an Olympic level skater, they make you so much better because you're skating behind them, and you're trying to imitate their stride and their stance. It's like having the world's greatest training wheels.
Although in skating you compete with other people, anyone who achieves a certain level of success is first and foremost competing against themselves. And for me, the idea that I could always do better, learn more, learn faster, is something that came from skating.
Even now I can't describe why I love skating so much.