Courtney Wheeler

One of my earliest childhood memories is the cold breeze and weightless feeling of being lifted over the ice by my dad as he raced me around the ice rink. My skating career began the first day my dad took me out on the ice and it became a part of me for the rest of my life. I loved connection of my blade to the ice and the freeing feeling as I coast down the length of the rink. From my first ice show to sectional competition jitters, skating was always there for me. As I got older I learned that it was less about clean jumps and high scores, but it tracked the trajectory of me as a person. From learn to skate to solo competitions to team competitions, my skating journey has been bumpy and unexpected, but it allowed me to grow into who I am. I found myself bringing it up in job interviews, college essays and more, but I wasn’t talking about the time I placed first in a competition. Skating taught me about myself and allowed me to discover who I want to be. I am driven and disciplined. I am expressive and graceful. I am caring and supportive. In all honesty, I probably would have discovered these things about myself without the sport of figure skating, but it has allowed me to have a reflection of my journey.