I was thinking the other day about that I think Vincent gets some unfair criticism for going to school. I read on the forums a lot that he is "copying" Nathan.
Well, I think it is just the opposite. When Vincent went to college, he decided NOT to skate competitively during the Freshman Fall semester. And that is the exact opposite of what Nathan decided to do.
Not true. Vincent did enter college with plans of competing throughout his first semester, in one interview he even talked about doing approx. 5 competitions, as far as I recall.
Only when he noticed that he wouldn't be able to do both at a satsifying level (?), did he withdraw. Hence why his pulling out of the GP was pretty short-term and raised some brows.
I assume he wasn't willing to sacrifice his grades and/or time living the college experience for what would have possibly been mediocre, for his standards, outings at the GP and probably more detrimental to his reputation than not competing at all.
I'm obviously not saying this somehow, automatically, equals copying Nathan, but it is not true that Vincent did not initially plan on combining both skating and full-time school.
Also, speaking of 'copying' has such a negative connotation, and it's usually found in the more nasty comments. I think I've seen just as many comments of people simply stating that Karen and Vincent were possibly encouraged or reassured by Nathan's experience. Of course we can't know this for sure, maybe they would've attempted full-time college + elite skating either way, but I think it's natural for people to make those assumptions and not necessarily mean-spirited.
But I also think it is naive to think, that there is no pressure or expectation at all on these young people from the same skating circles, 'to deliver' in certain areas of their lifes and how they compare to the others. Be it in their own (I'm sure very competitive) minds or their environment/family. And I'm sure this plays a role in their motives or choices.
You are right though, in that there is in fact a difference between Nathan's and Vincent's approach to college.
Vincent has stated repeatedly that he's just planning on doing this one semester to reserve a spot at Brown in the future (after the next Olympics), and he has no intentions (at least he didn't until now) of juggling both skating and college long term. To put it bluntly, it sounds like that one semester is more of a necessity and experiencing a normal college life is not currently a priority or a focus of his. Not to diminish his college experience, I'm sure it's still exciting and a nice change from the same old rut, a chance to leave his old environment for a bit, but I don't think he would have done it if it wasn't the safest choice for his future plans.
With Nathan it usually sounds more like he's craving this normal life of a young adult and he needs college as an escape from skating. Just skating doesn't seem fulfilling enough for him, I think especially socially and in terms of perspectives on life. And he was always determined to make it work for as long as it's feasible for him.
Again, not saying Vincent is somehow narrow-minded and easily pleased because he appears to be satisfied with 'just being a skater' for now. From what we see of them in interviews, they just seem to have very different personalities and Vincent strikes me as someone who's more introversive and self-sufficient.
of course, I would love to see a podium with Jason, Andrew T., and Alex K. If that happens I am buying a lottery ticket the next day. 
to want any skater to get assigned to an event in Japan. Pretty much everyone seems to love to compete there, and to enjoy the culture, food, etc. :hap93:
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