The 2022/23 season has been one of the most eventful skating seasons of my career. I started the season off by going to the chiropractor weekly and overtraining myself to the point of exhaustion. I ended the season by earning a silver medal at the Longtrack Junior World Championships, winning nationals for my age group, setting 3 national records for my age group, and placing at the Longtrack AM cup, but to get to this point, I had to change a lot in several aspects of my life.

The first thing that evolved this season was my attitude toward skating and my teammates. I did some self-reflection and realized that I was way more competitive than I thought. I would make competitions out of the littlest things in training which pushed me to become a better skater, but it was not good for my mental health and the mental health of those around me. I reflected on this behavior and changed the way I approached my training. I started to focus more on myself and less on the people around me, prioritizing my health and my training. This is when I started to drastically improve and take better care of my body. My knees started to feel healthier, my body started to feel lighter, and my mind became more focused until I let the negativity take over once more.

Before qualifying for the junior world team, I went through a period in which I was angry at everything. I was so stressed and worried about my upcoming competition that I did not realize how it was affecting my mental health. I would get upset and snippy at those who were trying to help me, and I became paranoid about little details that did not matter. Why you may ask? Well, I think it was because I wasn’t improving nearly as much as I had at the beginning of the season while my competition was dropping seconds off their times every week. With the help of my mom, I noticed this negative change in my behavior and was able to correct parts of it. It is hard to eliminate any negativity in your mindset, but making sense of it and taking action to prevent further negativity helps.

With this new more positive mindset, I went into Junior World Qualifiers with a refreshed, confident, and goal-centered mindset. I’ll admit, I was nervous, but I didn’t let my nerves get the best of me. I finished the competition with all-around PBs and a spot on the junior world team. This ultimately boosted my confidence.

In Germany, where Junior Worlds took place, I built deeper connections with several of my teammates and enjoyed doing what I loved most: skating. I found my place within the group and was able to make the most of the experiences. Some tension arose amongst several of the athletes on Team USA, but that is to be expected when you have so many high-level athletes competing for the same thing. I had a conflict with one of my teammates, but we peacefully resolved the miscommunication we had and focused on our training.

One of the most valuable experiences I gained from this competition was living without my parents and with a roommate. I grew to appreciate my parents and everything they did for me even more. I learned that I needed to be more gracious because there are so many things they do behind the scenes that I am not aware of. I made a mental note to try to be kinder to my parents because they do everything in their power to support me and my dreams.

All in all, my time at Junior Worlds was an experience of a lifetime and one I will never forget. I learned some valuable life lessons and gained some additional self-awareness that will hopefully make me a better person in the future. Some of the key takeaways from my experience were:

• Be gracious to those who help you
• This may seem obvious, but accept help when others offer it
• Focus on your mindset, it will have the greatest effect on your performance
• Always try to have fun, happiness will make any experience worth it.