June 28, 2006
Hello, and thanks for visiting my site.
I can start by saying, I am SO excited to finally be done with school for a
little while. It has been a very hectic semester, as I went full time, and
then continued to do summer courses. <– Smart move on my part! :) Well now
that schools out I finally have time to skate and train for Liberty. My
first competition since Eastern’s. I am so excited to finally compete again
and to debut my new long program choreographed by Sebastien Britten.
As I said life has been very hectic, and I would like to start by thanking
my coaches of eleven years, Mark Mitchell and Peter Johansson. They have
been extraordinary coaches, great role models, and very supportive towards
my skating. But, I have decided to part ways after 11 years. I thank them
for everything, but it was time to make a change. I took a few weeks to
skate alone, and figure things out. Finally, I decided that I would be
taking from Lisa Coppola, and Tom Lescinski. The change has been very hard,
but I think it is something I needed. Falling into a monotonous daily
routine for two years was getting to be very hard on me. Therefore my
decision to change. I opted not to move because I wanted to continue to
pursue my education, and coaching. And most importantly I would have had to
leave my friends and family. I love all aspects of my life and simply do
not wish to give them up. I had my first lesson with Lisa yesterday, and it
was a very positive experience. I am looking forward to this new
relationship, and hope it will help me further grow as a person and skater.
Along with competing at Liberty, I am also going to be competing at the U.S.
Collegiate Championships in August. Both I am very excited for.
Aside from my coaching change, a few exciting events that I have had
recently are Governing Council and getting my long program. Governing
council was a blast. It was so much fun being an athlete delegate and
participating in this extraordinary event. Aside from the council, I got to
stay a few extra days and go to Disney World for the first time. My room
mate Erin Reed and I did the Magic Kingdom, Epicot, and MGM Studios all in
one day. Exhausted at the end of the day we still had a fabulous time.
After my trip to Orlando, I went home to start summer classes, and then left
for one week to Montreal for choreography. There I worked with Sebastien
Britten, former Canadian mens champion. I had so much fun working with him,
and created a great program that is totally different for me. It’s a
different genre then I am used to, and so much more relaxed and fun. I love
skating it and can not wait to debut it at Liberty. Montreal was so
exciting because not only did I get to work with an amazing choreographer, I
also got to meet David Wilson and Joannie Rochette. Simply, I was star
struck!!!
Oh!!! And how could I forget! At Governing Council, my life long dream had
come true! I finally got to meet Kristi Yamaguchi!!! Not only did I meet
her, but I got to escort her to the Scott Hamilton Banquet. It was the
greatest moment of my life. After watching her on t.v. at the 1992
Olympics, I fell in love with her and most importantly the sport. She is
the reason I began my quest as a Figure Skater.
Well, that is it for now, and I hope you check back frequently for updates
on my skating, and future journal entries.
Peace,
Jai
