Jenny Kirk to leave The Skating Lesson

[yuzushenko]

i already miss jenny, but i never thought she would come back either way. great thing that she's happy, i am shocked she didnt stay in law school though, but admire her willingness to reject it and do what she truly wants to do vs just doing something for the sake of optics.

i miss her commentary on technique, i thought she was so knowledgeable on that and honestly it doesnt seem dave really knows about those things. she really set TSL up a level since she actually went through many of the things skaters here have gone through. she knows the coaches, past skaters, and what they were like, and what the elite competitive arena was like. her voice was great and fun and she was extremely funny in her commentary. i miss the shimmies.. she just had this contagious type of smile for the show that will really be missed. she stressed the importance of grit and that's one thing more skaters could use nowadays and it really inspired her audience (well at least me) to be more gritty. also loved her fabulous outfits and her hair. i loved her commentary on skaters' roots showing! just imagine what she would say about gracie's roots in that redbull campaign! and her "best dressed" picks!!! she is so knowledgeable and her personality is just so great.

thank you jenny for everything, please come by again soon.

 

[penguin]

I enjoyed Jenny a lot on TSL, and she was the reason I kept watching even when I started growing dissatisfied with the show. I always thought Dave was fun but was holding her back from making TSL a bona fide niche media outlet. I'd rather that Jenny stayed and Dave left, but that's just based on my style preference.

 

[BackSpiral]

I will miss Jenny, too. But she was wasting her time. I kind of don't get her. She spends a year applying to law school, gets into UCLA, and then throws it all away, for what? She is still wasting her time, just in another dead-end pursuit (show skating or whatever she is trying to do now). I think Jenny is very talented as an on-air commentator, whether on skating or in some other capacity (she is also very easy on the eyes). I would certainly prefer her to Tara as the NBC play-by-play person. Not that that will happen at the big events like Nationals or Worlds. But what about some of the "lesser" events, like the ones where they use Tracy Wilson and Ryan Bradley? I have nothing against Tracy but she is a former ice dancer, isn't she? And a Canadian. I think Jenny would be a better choice to call the singles and pairs events. Preferably with Terry Gannon. I can dream, can't I?

I don't think she wasted her time. She was smart to stop going to law school when she did. Nothing worse than doing something you don't want to do and don't have a passion for. As someone who went away from my undergraduate degree to get a Master's in Accounting & pass the CPA exam (thinking accounting would fit my strengths) only to find out it's not for me, I applaud her for realizing she didn't want to a career in law before she wasted a bunch of money like I did. I only wished I had done what Jenny did and followed my heart.

 

[Plisskin]

It's funny since when Jenny was actually on the show I saw so many complaints about her from many people, lol. From calling her a dumb blonde and other unsavory comments.. But when she left all the "Where's Jenny" and "I miss Jenny" comments started to come up. I guess this is a case of you don't know how good you got it until it's gone for some? Anyway, I like TSL and have/ will continue to watch, but I will miss her. While I've enjoyed most of the guests, I miss Jenny's technical expertise and camaraderie she had with Dave. And she also made the show more legit for me since all of her opinions were coming from herself previously being an elite skater.

 

[tulosai]

For whatever she wants to do for now, I suppose. I spent three miserable years in graduate school before finally admitting to myself that I didn't want the career path in front of me. I left and was almost instantly much happier. My favorite headline ever for an article was "Real Careers Have Curves." It's not wasting your time if you're learning, growing, and making enough money to support yourself, even if you find yourself on another trajectory eventually.

I think I would actually love Jenny as a commentator! She'd be a good fit for IceNetwork...

Yeah as someone who went to law school and spent some time as a lawyer, it's better she got out now if she realized it wasn't for her. School is time consuming and incredibly expensive, and you are not allowed to work at all to offset expenses in your first year due to some obscure and outdated bar rule. Furthermore unless you're at a top 10 or top 20 school career prospects are freaking bleak (though UCLA is indeed top 20 at least she'd be insulated from that); even if you are at a top 20 school most of those jobs where you could make a ton of money are gone. So you're 100K in debt, you have a job that doesn't pay that much better than what you were dong before where you're working twice as many hours as you worked before and your bosses and clients think they own you, and half the people you know suddenly seem to be alcoholics. It's not really big fun. There are still some biglaw jobs where you can make the big $, but associates at those jobs LITERALLY DON'T GO HOME TO SLEEP in their first few years at the firm. Look at that and read it again. The life of a lawyer isn't for everyone. I'm a lot happier since I gave it up, and if I knew what I know now I would not go to law school again. I'd only recommend it to a person with a specific and lasting interest in something they couldn't otherwise do, AND who can't imagine being happy doing anything else, or to people who can get into a top 10 school and only want the big bucks and don't care that they will never see their family or sleep again .

 

[daphenaxa]

I really like Jenny, hope she does well as a coach/performer. hope she can be a guest on TSL sometimes, without having to be a fixture of the show, that would be cool if she came on maybe once or twice a year.
As for TSL i do like Dave a lot actually. I disagree with him on a lot of stuffs and he does say problematic/annoying stuff sometimes but I still like him and really appreciate TSL as a show. The varying quality of his guests is a problem for me though. For example I really disliked episodes with La or Mark Hanretty as they are quite unlikable. I also dislike anything he does with Brennan or Hersh in them since i can't stand them.
However the episodes he does with retired skaters like Kerr, Bezic, Meissner or Meekins are really great. His duo with Jonathan Beyer is also great. I love that guy.

 

[solani]

@daphenaxa
I fully agree. I don't agree with everything Dave says but I certainly appreciate the show.

 

[andromache]

For example I really disliked episodes with La or Mark Hanretty as they are quite unlikable. I also dislike anything he does with Brennan or Hersh in them since i can't stand them.
However the episodes he does with retired skaters like Kerr, Bezic, Meissner or Meekins are really great. His duo with Jonathan Beyer is also great. I love that guy.

This pretty sums up how I feel. Sometimes I disagree with Dave or he says annoying or stupid things, but I still really enjoy the show. And as much as some people dislike Dave's gossip - let's face it, he's far more in the know than we are.

Jonathan Beyer is a treasure. I can do without La entirely.

More Emily Tuttle please! Especially on ice dance. I learn so much from her.

I guess my only disagreement is that I don't mind Phil and Christine - they're kind of like Dave, in that they can be annoying or say things I disagree with, but they love the sport as much as I do and they know a heck of a lot about it.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Yeah as someone who went to law school and spent some time as a lawyer, it's better she got out now if she realized it wasn't for her. School is time consuming and incredibly expensive, and you are not allowed to work at all to offset expenses in your first year due to some obscure and outdated bar rule. Furthermore unless you're at a top 10 or top 20 school career prospects are freaking bleak (though UCLA is indeed top 20 at least she'd be insulated from that); even if you are at a top 20 school most of those jobs where you could make a ton of money are gone. So you're 100K in debt, you have a job that doesn't pay that much better than what you were dong before where you're working twice as many hours as you worked before and your bosses and clients think they own you, and half the people you know suddenly seem to be alcoholics. It's not really big fun. There are still some biglaw jobs where you can make the big $, but associates at those jobs LITERALLY DON'T GO HOME TO SLEEP in their first few years at the firm. Look at that and read it again. The life of a lawyer isn't for everyone. I'm a lot happier since I gave it up, and if I knew what I know now I would not go to law school again. I'd only recommend it to a person with a specific and lasting interest in something they couldn't otherwise do, AND who can't imagine being happy doing anything else, or to people who can get into a top 10 school and only want the big bucks and don't care that they will never see their family or sleep again .

I have a judge and several lawyers in my immediate family and your story is one I've heard before. Almost word for word

 

[daphenaxa]

This pretty sums up how I feel. Sometimes I disagree with Dave or he says annoying or stupid things, but I still really enjoy the show. And as much as some people dislike Dave's gossip - let's face it, he's far more in the know than we are.

Jonathan Beyer is a treasure. I can do without La entirely.

More Emily Tuttle please! Especially on ice dance. I learn so much from her.

I guess my only disagreement is that I don't mind Phil and Christine - they're kind of like Dave, in that they can be annoying or say things I disagree with, but they love the sport as much as I do and they know a heck of a lot about it.

Oh yeah I forgot Emily! I really loved her too. Very knowledgeable and also likable I thought.
As for the gossips, if anything I wish Dave would be clearer on exactly what and who he gossips sometimes because I am slow and not in the know at all lol.

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Yeah as someone who went to law school and spent some time as a lawyer, it's better she got out now if she realized it wasn't for her. School is time consuming and incredibly expensive, and you are not allowed to work at all to offset expenses in your first year due to some obscure and outdated bar rule. Furthermore unless you're at a top 10 or top 20 school career prospects are freaking bleak (though UCLA is indeed top 20 at least she'd be insulated from that); even if you are at a top 20 school most of those jobs where you could make a ton of money are gone. So you're 100K in debt, you have a job that doesn't pay that much better than what you were dong before where you're working twice as many hours as you worked before and your bosses and clients think they own you, and half the people you know suddenly seem to be alcoholics. It's not really big fun. There are still some biglaw jobs where you can make the big $, but associates at those jobs LITERALLY DON'T GO HOME TO SLEEP in their first few years at the firm. Look at that and read it again. The life of a lawyer isn't for everyone. I'm a lot happier since I gave it up, and if I knew what I know now I would not go to law school again. I'd only recommend it to a person with a specific and lasting interest in something they couldn't otherwise do, AND who can't imagine being happy doing anything else, or to people who can get into a top 10 school and only want the big bucks and don't care that they will never see their family or sleep again .

You just dropped a truth bomb. I've been working as an attorney for over a year, but luckily I don't work at a big law firm, so my hours for the most part are the type of hours normal working people should have.

 

[OniBan]

i will miss Jenny. I have to admit - when they do interviews with guests, I find that Jenny asked a lot of questions about things that I really want to know about, and I like it when she gets analytical and technical about aspects of figure skating (which balances out the gossipy tone of Dave's side of things.) I wish her the best and I hope we do get to hear from her again about skating sometimes (maybe a podcast or something?)

 

[yuzushenko]

Oh yeah I forgot Emily! I really loved her too. Very knowledgeable and also likable I thought.
As for the gossips, if anything I wish Dave would be clearer on exactly what and who he gossips sometimes because I am slow and not in the know at all lol.

omgod agreed!! i wish Dave would put little icons w/ the name of the skater who they're currently discussing because it gets really confusing especially with pairs and dance since i dont know as much about them. and they drop all the pronouns and just go with "he/she/they" for like 4 minutes straight and im like "who!?!?"

another thing i miss about jenny is that she actually edited the videos

so if they were talking about a skater doing a certain jump or technique, they would actually show footage of that!!! that really elevated the show and it's a shame they dropped that. if i remember correctly, jenny was the one in charge of all the editing and stuff.

i know this is a gossipy example but remember when they (dave + la) were discussing mao's odd looking dress? they kept discussing it and how it was only a certain dress like not all of them and there was like a newer version of it but the old one was the one that looked weird. i wish they could have at least shown us a picture! i tried googling it and i couldn't understand what they were talking about. and discussions like those ended up going on for a good solid bit and even became referenced later on so that was just lost on me.


now that i remember, with jenny they used to have more insider jokes that were actually charming. like the shimmy, and "pause" and a bunch of others. i feel like the show as a whole was better packaged with jenny around and it felt a bit more legitimate with its commentary. now it just reminds me of the justin laem videos. remember when jenny and dave used to match? or talk about what they were currently drinking (jenny had a pepsi cup once but claimed it was just vitamin water or something, dave drinking his tea or something). the "light a candle" and "spray some lavender spray"

 

[el henry]

I feel so so so sorry for current recent lawyers. Back in prehistoric times, it didn't cost quite so much. And if you were lower income, you got a lot of financial aid. And could attend a "top ten" school. Still had loans, but no back breakers. Even if your first job paid $18K that year. And you could work your entire career for the US government bringing evildoers to justice. File this under "Life sometimes turns out OK".

But it is way way way better for Jenny to figure that law school is not for her now than later; life is short. And I enjoy TSL for the interviews way more than the commentary, and I don't know how much of that is Jenny's doing (do they feel better with a former skater) or not.

I agree the tech content has deteriorated. If Dave doesn't know that portion (Lord knows I don't), he should find someone who does.

 

[jacky]

I will miss jenny .I really enjoyed her on the skating lesson. I guess its time for her too move on too other things.

 

[Skater Boy]

Yeah as someone who went to law school and spent some time as a lawyer, it's better she got out now if she realized it wasn't for her. School is time consuming and incredibly expensive, and you are not allowed to work at all to offset expenses in your first year due to some obscure and outdated bar rule. Furthermore unless you're at a top 10 or top 20 school career prospects are freaking bleak (though UCLA is indeed top 20 at least she'd be insulated from that); even if you are at a top 20 school most of those jobs where you could make a ton of money are gone. So you're 100K in debt, you have a job that doesn't pay that much better than what you were dong before where you're working twice as many hours as you worked before and your bosses and clients think they own you, and half the people you know suddenly seem to be alcoholics. It's not really big fun. There are still some biglaw jobs where you can make the big $, but associates at those jobs LITERALLY DON'T GO HOME TO SLEEP in their first few years at the firm. Look at that and read it again. The life of a lawyer isn't for everyone. I'm a lot happier since I gave it up, and if I knew what I know now I would not go to law school again. I'd only recommend it to a person with a specific and lasting interest in something they couldn't otherwise do, AND who can't imagine being happy doing anything else, or to people who can get into a top 10 school and only want the big bucks and don't care that they will never see their family or sleep again .

Idealistically and yet hopefully everyone should find a career/job they like but the sad reality is sometimes you need to put food on the table. My mom and dad had to do what they had to do to look after us kids. They hated their jobs or rather they were treated but it paid the bills. Some people are lucky, blessed of fortunate and they can have it all and some can't. Law isn't for everyone. It maybe one of the toughest professions. Sure each has its challenges and med school has more schooling to be a doctor but arguably Law in most countries is more competitive to get in. And worse most go by a bell curve system so if you are with bright people already it is "worse" because you compete with them for the very few A's and B's. In Canada I know that not only is there the bell curve but most jobs / articles (internships) are based largely on marks to get the interviews so where you are in your class and bell curves or individual classses is so important. And law unlike Engineering which relatively has less education and med school is not guaranteed to make that healthy of an income. nOw a doctor is another thing - they work and study hard but you never hear of a starving doctor unless you consider $175,000 starving a year. most make more an sometimes 4 or 5 times more - and thensome. And that is on the low end of family physicians. Sadly with the skating not being as popoular there are fewer jobs. And commentating to be honest relies more on personality at least with Tara and Johnny Weir. That is the current market. The other thing is law is very competitive inehrently and it is like ompeting but longer hours - someone is trying to knock you downn - the other idde's lawyer, the court system - worse for district attorneys/prosecutors who joyfully take the challenge but the presumption of innocense something we dearly cherish and respect and alll the related Charter issues and such often do not create fairness or justice but defences to attack a conviction. You need to do it because you have passion for it. Not all things we have passion for leads to fame and fortune. For whatever reason some jobs are more desireable - I mean how many former jocks go into "kinesiology" - the number of pe teachers, people apply for phsyi otherapy, massage therapy, personal trainer is staggering. I wish Jenny well but I see so many unhappy law grads and so many don't practice law for very long or at all.

 

[Shani]

Actually I am a bit surprised by this thread because I really thought she had gone to law school 5 years ago... and retired from competitiive skating, sadly for me because Jenny Kirk was good, before Kimmie went to the Olympics. There is some outdated stuff floating around on this thread...

 

[el henry]

Actually I am a bit surprised by this thread because I really thought she had gone to law school 5 years ago... and retired from competitiive skating, sadly for me because Jenny Kirk was good, before Kimmie went to the Olympics. There is some outdated stuff floating around on this thread...

Jenny left TSL to attend law school in the fall. I don't know exactly when she left, but she was definitely attending law school, or saying she planned to, in fall 2016.

I don't know what else is outdated or dated correctly, because I wasn't following skating when Jenny was skating; I did not "come back" until 2014. That I leave up to everyone else.

 

[Watermelondrea]

Will definitely miss her, she had a nice voice and I like her presence. Also she's very pretty!!

 

[Tavi...]

If I recall correctly Jenny took some time off from TSL in the late fall of 2013 to study for the LSATs. She was accepted to law school for fall 2015 but decided to defer a year. She entered law school this past fall but left sometime during her first semester.

Like Jenny, I went to law school as an adult. It's a huge adjustment just going back to school after several (or many) years; law school is especially stressful because it's highly competitive and the way classes are taught is quite different to how they're taught in undergrad. Even if you're someone who loves to read, the sheer volume and complexity of what you're reading can be overwhelming. They're teaching you a new way to think, and it can be difficult to master.

I think it's fantastic that Jenny took the risk of going to law school. I think she was even smarter to cut her losses once she decided it wasn't for her, before she incurred a mountain of debt that would have made it financially difficult for her to pursue competing and coaching again. Although I'm sad she's decided not to return to TSL, I wish her all the best as she moves forward in life.