After yet another horrible practice, I felt like quitting. Maybe I just wasn’t cut out to be a figure skater? The toe loops and salchows and loops and lutzes just made me feel like a klutz! I stormed into the locker room and started unlacing my skates with ferocity.
My coach seemed to be able to tell I was getting frustrated and sat down to help me out of the skates.
“Whitney, I noticed you were having a hard time with that axel jump. I could help you practice a bit more outside of class,” Brooke said, as we unlaced.
“You don’t have to sugarcoat it for me, Brooke,” I responded. “Just admit that I’m awful at skating. I’m hanging up my skates for good.”
“Actually, I think you’re very talented. You just need some work,” she said. “Becoming a figure skater is more than just a notion. I fell, hurt myself, and quit a hundred times before I made it to the Olympics trials.”
“Why’d you keep getting up and dusting yourself off? I mean, how did you know that this is what you were born to do?” I asked shyly.
“The first time I ever laced up a pair of skates I was six years old. I stepped onto the ice and promptly fell on my bum,” Brooke laughed. “I didn’t really get interested in skating as a career until I saw Kristi Yamaguchi in the 1992 Olympics. Right then, I knew I was going to have a life-long love affair with skating.”
“Didn’t it take a lot of training to get to the professional level? We only practice four days a week, and I’m so sore I can barely move,” I said.
“It was a lot of hard work, but I didn’t mind. Nothing I had ever done up until then seemed so. . . right,” Brooke said. “I believe that you’re a gifted skater, but you have to believe in yourself and have a passion for the sport. That’s the only thing that will sustain you through all the bumps and bruises.”
I took in Brooke’s words carefully. Even though an injury had ended her skating career shortly after she won the Bronze in the Olympics, she still devoted her time to teaching us to skate. For free. Do I have that kind of passion and commitment? I thought.
“Let me know if you decide you want some extra help,” Brooke gave me a half hug and waved goodbye as she grabbed her bag to leave. “My mornings are always free,” she said with a smile.
"Thanks, Brooke. You’re the best,” I said.
As I shoved all my things in my bag and headed out to my mom’s car, I started to think about my last competition. Brooke was right— nothing compared to the feeling of going into a jump and knowing that you were going to nail it.
“Hey Babycakes, how was practice?” Mom said after I closed my car door.
“It wasn’t that great,” I admitted. “But do you think you could bring me to practice some mornings?”
2
Which statement from the passage shows that Whitney has the instincts of a skater?
A.
"Just admit that I'm awful at skating. I'm hanging up my skates for good."
B.
"We only practice four days a week, and I'm so sore I can barely move."
C.
". . . nothing compared to the feeling of going into a jump and knowing that you were going to nail it."
D.
"It was a lot of hard work, but I didn't mind. Nothing I had ever done up until then seemed so . . . right."