Throughout my high school experience, I’ve learned a lot about myself. I’ve been through both very difficult and very rewarding circumstances that have shaped me into the person I am today.

In my freshman year, I was much more reserved and naïve. As I have gotten older, I have gained more experience and knowledge that have allowed me to start figuring out who I am, what I value, and how to love myself. In fact, over the last couple of years I have decided to try and care less about what people think of me, and not give that kind of thought any power in my life. The more I’ve been able to be myself, the happier I’ve become, even helping me to achieve my biggest goal, becoming a US Figure Skating Gold Medalist, and becoming a member of Team USA. It’s taken a lot of time, hard work, and dedication to reach this mountain top, and after accomplishing it, I’ve had to make new goals.

These goals are much smaller but will help me become a better skater, and person, when they’re achieved. Another thing I’ve had to start thinking about is what I’m going to do after I’m no longer a competitive figure skater. Since I’ve been a figure skater my entire life, it’s been difficult to think about life after my competitive career. It took me a long time to figure out what was next. After some thought, I decided that I’m going to venture into the world of television and movies. I’ve always been interested in it, but due to my busy lifestyle I’ve never gotten the chance to try much outside of figure skating. I don’t know when I will be done competing, because right now it brings me so much joy. I will probably never completely say goodbye to the ice because it is a place that’s always been there for me, in the future, I hope to coach younger generations of figure skaters.