For as long as I can remember, resilience has been preached upon me. By coaches, parents, even fellow teammates. I’ve known since I was young that I needed to be quick to adapt to any challenges I faced in all aspects of my life. Looking back, I am beyond thankful that I was taught this at such a young age because as I’ve grown, it’s only become more necessary. 

About two weeks ago my team attended a competition in Boston. We felt so prepared and confident. We had just won the competition held the weekend before in California, the first time my team had won the junior division at this competition, and we had pushed extremely hard at the few practices we had in the four days in between competitions. Energy was high, my coaches felt that we were beyond ready to not only win but score much better than the other teams, and overall the trip was looking to be a good one. It’s crazy how quickly everything can change. 

We were the second out of ten teams to compete in the short program and we got on the ice determined to go and put out a jaw-dropping performance. While the team before us waited for their scores and we were given the opportunity to warm up, two of my teammates didn’t see each other when skating around and one of them got a blade to the leg. We quickly realized the severity of the injury and immediately started motioning to our coaches and the judging panel that help was needed. After she was escorted off the ice and we had discussed with the panel how we were going to proceed, our coaches called us into a huddle and tried to help us calm down. Normally, when an injury like this happens, the panel allows you to get off the ice, regroup, and then skate last in the division when you have decided your course of action. Instead, our coaches had so much faith in us that they decided we would skate fifteen instead of sixteen, leaving her spot open, and compete now rather than later. 

This was an insane decision. Our programs are built around all sixteen skaters, and each person’s spot is essential in guaranteeing the function of the different elements we perform. Leaving one spot open has a huge influence on how the program works.  In January, we were in Poland for a competition and a similar incident happened, but it was the night before we competed and the other Team USA team there selflessly gave us their two hour ice time which allowed us to teach people new spots and prepare for the next day. This time we had a little less than two minutes to walk out any places in our program that were impacted by her open spot while they cleaned the ice where she had fallen and then it was go time. 

After that, it’s kind of a blur. I don’t really remember any specific parts of the program other than a partner move that I had to awkwardly skate alone. It wasn’t until we got to the final seconds of the program that I clocked back in and realized what we had just done. Hitting that ending position was a feeling I’ll never forget. The entire arena rose to their feet to applaud us as we fell into a hug in the middle of the ice, all of us crying and repeatedly saying how proud we were of each other. 

As soon as we got off the ice, our coaches embraced us, both shedding tears of their own. They praised us, declaring that they had never coached a group of girls who could have done what we did. The amount of people who came up to us later that night was actually really overwhelming.

We didn’t end up winning the short program or the competition overall. I’m not sure how, but even with only fifteen we were able to improve our scores from California, and we ended up in third place. Although our placement wasn’t what we wanted, it didn’t matter. Like I said before, I’ve known since I was young what resilience was, but this experience taught me what it really means to be resilient. Never before have I had to adapt that quickly to a situation like this. While I would never wish this traumatic experience upon someone else, I am so grateful that I was able to take away the knowledge of not only what true camaraderie looks like but also the importance of resilience and understanding that rarely does something go exactly to plan. Whatever happens, roll with it and be willing to give it your all. “The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.” – Robert Jordan.