Nathan Chen | Page 446 | Golden Skate

Nathan Chen

thanks sheetz for sharing the article!

I'm also reading it as Yale being among the first to get back to Nathan about his application - helped along by the Yuki/IMG connection?

Interesting article - with no mention of worlds. I think Nathan said he was working on his college applications at the end of last year?


Just before winning his second straight U.S. championship in January, he was utilizing some rare, stress-free time to write as many seven to eight cohesive application essays. That was after cramming for the SAT and ACT exams while prepping for the Olympics.

“Most of the times we’re looking at our phones, watching Netflix or something,” Chen said, “so I’d just be [write essays] instead.”

cramming for SATs seems very Nathan - and I didn't know he took the ACT as well. Guess all this college application stuff cut into his Netflix/Parks and Rec watching time :)


'He’s already started mapping potential routes in terms of his major. It’ll likely be statistics, obviously fitting for the high-flying, history-making skating talent, who in Pyeongchang, set a record in the sport by landing six quadruple jumps in one program. Chen also said pre-med might eventually be part of the conversation, too.'

Seems that he is really interested in stats major (for now!) ... wonder if any girls at Yale will be enrolling in stats just to be in Nathan's class - haha


As is required, Chen has started scouting out local rinks around Yale’s campus, and ironically enough, there are a few that have open skate sessions during the day that will accommodate his academic schedule in his first semester in New Haven. As late summer turns to fall, Chen will have to strike that balance between class, studies and time on the ice ice, but luckily the international competitions line up fairly well, he said, with the school’s recesses and breaks in schedule.

“All that combined,” he said, “will definitely allow me to live a pretty normal skating schedule.”

Sounds like a pretty 'normal' schedule ! I'm not sure what's so 'ironic' about there being a few rinks with open skate sessions during the day that would work for Nathan? And typo of 'ice ice'


Chen rarely gets to return home and compete in a more low-key atmosphere, where he said it’s up to the skaters to engage with the audience more and ensure they enjoy the show. Asked if he plans on throwing five or six quads in front of the hometown crowd, Chen responded, perhaps in jest, “Oh, for sure.”

5 or 6 quads for SLC hometown SOI show :D
 
Always lovely to read article from home town press The Salt Lake Tribute
but Christopher Kamrani this time seems drafted this article in a hurry. cos there are 2 typos:biggrin:
"Chen will have to strike that balance between classes, studies and time on the ice ice, but luckily the international competitions line up fairly well, he said, with the school’s recesses and breaks in schedule."
 
@oatmella also find that typo:biggrin: #Soulmates

another thing from this article, said Nathan applied at least half colleges at the west coast, which means another half in the east coast, maybe , there are more colleges besides Harvard and Yale that Nathan applied in the east coast.

Open skate session is kinda funny, I don't think Nathan can train in the open skate session, he has to train at least at freeskate sessions.

but all-in-all, Nathan's future training at Yale sounded very casual and chill according to this article.
 
yeah, sounds like he wants a more 'normal' skating schedule - not to spend all day at the rink ... and yes, more casual and chill.

well Nathan said 'nearly half were in California' - so less than half? It wouldn't surprise me if he applied to other Ivy League schools as well

Came across this interview:
https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/nathan-chen-figure-skater-olympics-2018

'Between getting on the podium and applying to university…

The past few months have been very stressful. Since they were all due at the end of this past year, I was able to finish them…and fingers crossed I get accepted! Now I can ultimately just focus on the Games.'


Also found this interesting - I wonder if Nathan still watches any ballet.

'I find my inspiration from…

An artistic standpoint—I’ve watched a lot of ballet and source some inspiration from how they move, connect with each other and find meaning in their movement.'
 
another thing is about major.
seems from the salt lake tribute, Nathan choose to major in Statistics, which means NO heavy duty labs. absolutely a more manageable major for him to balance college and competitive skating. And he can always make up those labs for pre-med requisite later on in his life if needed. And Statistics will be easy peasy for Nathan.:yes:

Yes definitely not train 8hours a day on ice like some other elite skaters.
 
another thing is about major.
seems from the salt lake tribute, Nathan choose to major in Statistics, which means NO heavy duty labs. absolutely a more manageable major for him to balance college and competitive skating. And he can always make up those labs for pre-med requisite later on in his life if needed. And Statistics will be easy peasy for Nathan.:yes:

haha yes - and there seemed to be some backlash when he mentioned econ major (too easy!!) - so stats major sounds sufficiently difficult enough but still will be more manageable for Nathan :)
 
haha yes - and there seemed to be some backlash when he mentioned econ major (too easy!!) - so stats major sounds sufficiently difficult enough but still will be more manageable for Nathan :)

yes, how about a couple of Math problems to solve for the clearer and starving brain after an energetic open skate session. Yum!:biggrin::yes:
 
yes, how about a couple of Math problems to solve for the clearer brain after an energetic open skate session. Yum!:biggrin::yes:

Yum! - haha. Nathan most likely won't be saying that about the 'meatless baked ziti' served at the dining hall.
 
Yum! - haha. Nathan most likely won't be saying that about the 'meatless baked ziti' served at the dining hall.

haha, you still remember that. :laugh2:
about Dance, I really think that Nathan secretly love to watch dance videos like he mentioned in the article and not just ballet dance.:biggrin:
 
I have no idea how Nathan thinks he can improve the quality of his jumps, explore a new style in his programs and develop the PCS side of his skating, while training mostly by himself. And with what I assume will be a reduced training load in general, compared to when he was living with his mom being homeschooled/learning from books. I honestly don't see him keeping up with the top men like this (although he might benefit from reputation and skating for the US Fed).


LOL, Nathan standing all upright and comfy, while Vincent obviously has to bend forward slightly to accommodate Nathan's height. Being the taller one, Vincent should have put his arms around Nathan and Jason from outside, not the other way round. :laugh:

Though I haven't seen Nathan in person, he never looks short to me on screen. I think this is because he has great proportions (long legs...) so without a frame of reference (someone taller standing next to him) he will appear of average height. But I always assumed that in person he would be surprisingly petite? (especially since everyone looks taller on TV as it is)
 
LOL, Nathan standing all upright and comfy, while Vincent obviously has to bend forward slightly to accommodate Nathan's height. Being the taller one, Vincent should have put his arms around Nathan and Jason from outside, not the other way round. :laugh:
:laugh2::rofl2:
 
Nathan asserting his dominance in that photo - haha

and yes - Nathan has great proportions and really did not look short on the ice! It didn’t really strike me that he looked too short to be partnering Ashley either. I thought he would look thinner in person as well - but he appeared to look like he does in photos.

yyyskate - very possible that is the reason for his hunched back (mystery solved!) and no idea how nearsighted he is - but maybe he would consider Lasik?
 
I have no idea how Nathan thinks he can improve the quality of his jumps, explore a new style in his programs and develop the PCS side of his skating, while training mostly by himself. And with what I assume will be a reduced training load in general, compared to when he was living with his mom being homeschooled/learning from books. I honestly don't see him keeping up with the top men like this (although he might benefit from reputation and skating for the US Fed).

LOL, Nathan standing all upright and comfy, while Vincent obviously has to bend forward slightly to accommodate Nathan's height. Being the taller one, Vincent should have put his arms around Nathan and Jason from outside, not the other way round. :laugh:

Though I haven't seen Nathan in person, he never looks short to me on screen. I think this is because he has great proportions (long legs...) so without a frame of reference (someone taller standing next to him) he will appear of average height. But I always assumed that in person he would be surprisingly petite? (especially since everyone looks taller on TV as it is)

Nathan's hair definitely helped him, which reminds me of this IG pictures with Jimmy Ma. He exaggerated a bit that his hair gave him extra 2 inches in the comment. :laugh:

https://www.instagram.com/p/7dNIXGw2EQ/?taken-by=nathanwchen

Jason and Vincent per wiki is only one inch apart, Jason doesn't seem to stand upright in this picture.

@oatmella, @yyyskate

That might be one of the culprits for the hunched back and nearsightedness. Now with the new apple watch, are we going to expect him to split his time between phone and watch?
 
I don’t think the “skating by myself” thing should be taken all that literally. He will obviously work with people in choreo, technique and whatever else he needs work on. But it won’t be with anyone watching over him on a daily basis and he will do general practices of his choreo/whatever he’s learned for that season on his own. That doesn’t seem all that different than how most skaters train and he’s practiced on his own many times in his career so it’s not anything too new, just has to juggle on site classes now. That’ll be the real adjustment.

But meh, I ain’t his mom so I’ll let him worry about it, not like fans can do anything about it so no point worrying [emoji23]
 
Thanks sheetz for the article. I agree with Mamamiia and Skatingmusic somewhat, Yale might be the first one to either send out the likely letter to him, and possibly follow up with rep to reach out to him so to snatch him from other schools. Yuki is a factor to help him making decision to go to Yale as to how to get Yale to accommodate his needs, other than that, I highly doubted she and IMG can do a lot about it.


Except that he is going to fulfill med school requirement is the ultimate goal, Econ or Statistics, he just looked undecided to me as to what he really wants to study, which is quite normal. I will not be surprised he would choose something else after the first year. After all, there are so many things to consider like flexibility of the programs for him to schedule classes or to go to competitions. There is a reason why so many Yale athletes students switch to political science afterwards.


Here is the link to Yale Figure Skating Club, it is a member of the United States Figure Skating Association (U.S. Figure Skating). "We offer sessions for skaters at all levels and provide group instruction in the Learn to Skate USA program, which is endorsed by U.S. Figure Skating, USA Hockey and US SpeedSkating. Group instruction is available for beginners. Private and semi-private lessons can be arranged directly with our professional skating coaches"
http://www.cs.yale.edu/yfsc/info.html

Yale Collegiate Figure Skating Club is the Yale student organization, which " is formally separate from YFSC, but work with them to increase skating opportunities at Yale"
 
Back
Top