Edmunds makes choice on college | Golden Skate

Edmunds makes choice on college

SarahSynchro

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 7, 2014
Country
Canada
Good for Polina! Is she planning on taking a full-time course load at college? That could be difficult while also training full-time, though if she did it in high school and has the intelligence and ambition, she very well could do it in college too. All the best to her. :) She's always struck me as being very well rounded and ambitious.
 

mrrice

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
It's interesting to hear about Polina's Bone Bruise. This injury happens to dancers all the time and they are very difficult to diagnose. I've never had a bone bruise but, I've had what's known as a "Heel Spur." They are very difficult to deal with because, In my case, there was very little swelling and the bruising goes away after a couple of days. However, the pain doesn't. I feel for Polina as the only way to get over this injury is to stay off the ice until it's completely healed.

This is a great time for Polina to focus on her studies. We all know that a skaters career is quite short and she'll need her education when she's done with skating.
 

CoyoteChris

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 4, 2004
It's interesting to hear about Polina's Bone Bruise. This injury happens to dancers all the time and they are very difficult to diagnose. I've never had a bone bruise but, I've had what's known as a "Heel Spur." They are very difficult to deal with because, In my case, there was very little swelling and the bruising goes away after a couple of days. However, the pain doesn't. I feel for Polina as the only way to get over this injury is to stay off the ice until it's completely healed.

This is a great time for Polina to focus on her studies. We all know that a skaters career is quite short and she'll need her education when she's done with skating.

I am a Polina fan and it is my belief (and this is not a slight on any past skaters) that the modern crop of skaters tend to be high academic acheivers when taken as a group. There are many reasons for this that I wont go into but a big advantage for her is that many schools will let a person vary their course load from semester to semester (not allowed in engineering in 1969 at the U of Ill...ask me how I know that) . So If Polina needs more time to work on skating, she can take a ligher course load at times. I think with her intellect, she will do just fine. (OK, I am biased cause she will take the time to talk with me... :laugh: and she seems like a motivated skater who is also a nice person to an old man).
http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/C...s 2016/Polina_zpsnqjwo5ur.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1
 
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MFarone

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 20, 2003
Country
United-States
I wish Polina the best. Whether she can attend college full time and do elite training remains to be seen. I have liked a lot of skaters that couldn't really seem to make that work - including Richard Dornbush, Rachael Flatt, and Christina Gao. I guess a lot will depend on what courses Polina takes and how much she might be able to do on line. I also think an education is very important so I do hope she can make it all work.
 

FSGMT

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 10, 2012
It is so nice to know that there are countries where an elite-level athlete can combine training/competitions with education at a high level, as difficult as it surely is. In Italy that would be absolutely impossible for any high-school student, and university would be extremely difficult, too. My own experience of training once every day and trying to get decent marks has been a nightmare, I don't think that a skater who trains twice a day+off ice training+choreography etc and has competitions all around the world and shows and interviews could do the same.
 

TwinnerA

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 20, 2004
Country
United-States
I seem to recall that Michelle Kwan wanted the full college experience, taking a full course load, living in the dorms, etc. when she started at UCLA at 18 all while she continued to train and found it difficult. I think she ended up reducing her course load to possibly just summer school until she stopped skating and then went back full time.
 

stella luna

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 3, 2012
I am a Polina fan and it is my belief (and this is not a slight on any past skaters) that the modern crop of skaters tend to be high academic acheivers when taken as a group. There are many reasons for this that I wont go into but a big advantage for her is that many schools will let a person vary their course load from semester to semester (not allowed in engineering in 1969 at the U of Ill...ask me how I know that) . So If Polina needs more time to work on skating, she can take a ligher course load at times. I think with her intellect, she will do just fine. (OK, I am biased cause she will take the time to talk with me... :laugh: and she seems like a motivated skater who is also a nice person to an old man).
http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/C...s 2016/Polina_zpsnqjwo5ur.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

That's a nice collection of skater fan photos!
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
I hope she can balance the two. I really like to see skaters pursuing education because it is hard to make a living as a skater once you retire. I expect that she'll take a full load in the fall and if she isn't able to maintain her form, work hard over winter break to prepare for Nationals then take a lighter load in the spring if needed.
 

CoyoteChris

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 4, 2004
I wish Polina the best. Whether she can attend college full time and do elite training remains to be seen. I have liked a lot of skaters that couldn't really seem to make that work - including Richard Dornbush, Rachael Flatt, and Christina Gao. I guess a lot will depend on what courses Polina takes and how much she might be able to do on line. I also think an education is very important so I do hope she can make it all work.

Looking at how much time these skaters practice during high and low season, it would be very hard to attend college full time.....and the great thing about today's ed system is that you and vary your load, and graduate at some point. The education they get off the ice by traveling to many countries is important in its own way.
 

thoakun

Final Flight
Joined
Jun 7, 2014
I'm very impressed by the versatility of American skaters. They train and compete at a high level, pursue education and go beyond their duties to give back to the community. It is nice to see that there are support systems which make it possible for athletes to combine all of those commitments. The most inspiring case I can think of is Amy Chow, an American gymnast who already won the team gold at the Olympics 1996, came back for her second Olympics in 2000 and juggled rigorous hours at the gym with her medical studies at Stanford. I still don't get how Amy was able to manage her time to achieve such physically impossible accomplishments.
 
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