"Do I really get to watch you compete?" asked my friend Cheyanne.

" Of Course," I replied.

This would be my first time competing my long program with my new coach Aleksandr Zaitsev, two time Olympic Gold Medallist in figure skating. Once a year there is a competition in Omaha, Nebraska called Winterfest. It isn’t a huge competition but there are a couple of good competitors, which is the competition Cheyanne was referring to. It is a good competition to put a new program out to test.

It has only been three weeks or so since my mom let my former coach go. I can’t remember how long I had Aleksandr but I know it hadn’t been very long and I already could see an improvement in my skating. My jumps feel lighter and easier, and at the end of my run-throughs I am not out of breath. I feel good. I feel ready and sure of myself.

As I warm up off ice, some of my former coach's students come over and warm up by me. I walk away not wanting to be anywhere near my competitors at that moment. I start to look for my coach and I spot him going into the hospitality room for coaches, again. I laugh a little as he sure loves to eat.

I put my skates on and all my neighbor friends come over to where I am sitting to wish me luck and give hugs. I feel so supported. It feels great and it gives me so much more confidence to go out there and skate good . At that moment, Aleksandr comes over and says it is time. I can't wait! My heart starts to pound harder and faster, my legs start to tingle as they just want to move and the ohh so familiar butterflies in my stomach begin to flutter. I have always loved that feeling right before competing. I get ready to take the ice for warmup and then jump out onto the ice when the announcer calls out the names of the competitors, including mine. I don’t follow the other skaters, who are racing each other around the rink, as have never been one to follow other people. I make my way straight to the middle of the rink, just as I had done the first time I ever stepped onto the ice at the age of seven, the same thoughts going through my mind. The thoughts are only that I want to be a champion. As the announcer says one minute is left in the warmup, I complete a checkout and another skater runs into me. It doesn’t bother me for I am too much in my own world, but I could see in her eyes that she had been shaken up. The announcer ask the skaters to please leave the ice for the warmup is now over and the usual excitement comes to me, knowing it is time. I am the first skater to compete in my group. As they call my name, I look at my coach one last time before I go out . I can tell he believes in me, that he knows what I can do and that he wants me to show everyone else what he already knows. It's in his eyes. And as I skate to the middle of the ice, I feel just like that little seven year old girl again, the little girl who believes she will be a champion and wants to prove to everyone how good she really is. My music starts and I take a deep breath. I stop thinking and let my body do what it already knows. I land my first double flip and I know I have it. My double axel and triple loop soon follow. I land them both. I can feel my excitement rise. As I go into my footwork, I can hear my friends clapping, and also screaming and yelling my name. I laugh slightly and I can breath for a second but not for long. I set up for the double lutz that had haunted me at regionals. Not this time because I land it! I feel a huge smile come over my face. I complete my program with my ending spin. I never want my program to end. I stand there in disbelief. I feel like a champion. I know I couldn’t of done better. As I get off the ice, my coach Aleksandr gives me a hug and tells me good job and for the first time in three years I feel as though my coach is truly happy with me. As I walk away from the ice, I know girls are glaring at me and that I won’t be making any friends with these girls with a performance like that.

I quickly walk over to where my mom and my friends are and sit down and watch the girl who followed. She looked a little nervous and did not skate her best. She pops her triple salchow in front of the judges and made many other mistakes. I later found out that I didn't win and really did not expect to.  But, I felt great about myself on the ice and was proud of what I had accomplished.   Of course I had hoped to win  but sometimes winning comes in other forms besides ribbons and trophies.   A wise person once told me that it isn’t the one who is winning now but the one who keeps on going. That wise person is my mom. It may not have been a big competition but with the things that had happened throughout this past month, it was huge to me. That day I felt like a winner and more than anything, I felt I had grown as a skater and a person. I was happy.

This was the first time I have ever skated at the Intermediate level and the first time ever trying a double axel and triple loop in competition. I loved it! I asked to have the judges give a critique of my performance and so Aleksandr Zaitsev and I sat outside at a picnic table with them and we talked for quite awhile. They asked me how long I had my program and I told them two weeks and they were amazed! That made me feel good. They told me they liked my speed and how solid my jumps were and my smoothness. They did not care that my double axel and triple loop were a bit cheated and said this was the competition to take the risks and put the jumps on the ice and to put a new program out. There is time to get the jumps clean. They said they liked my energy and aggressiveness on the ice and enjoyed the footwork. I don't know if they even said anything negative except that I was rushed in a couple places and my spins could be held a little longer so they could see it longer. I was happy with the critique and just felt so glad to have had the chance to sit down with two judges and see how my new program looked on the ice. All in all, it was a great competition and I was so happy to be competing and to have such a wonderful coach. The Winterfest 2006 turned out to be one of my happier moments in my skating career and left me believing in myself that I can become a champion.