DAY JOBS
(POLINA EDMUNDS, FIGURE SKATING, STUDENT, USA)
I am all about confidence, hard work.
Being an athlete, it is about knowing the rewards.
Knowing that I have the talent and a gift
and I can share it and show people what I can do.
My name is Polina Edmunds, I am a full-time student
and I've represented Team USA for figure skating
at the Olympic Games.
Skating is very, very hard, it is very tedious,
I have to do the same routine five days a week, all year,
basically since I was a very young girl.
It is really hard and it's very taxing.
Your sarcasm is unappreciated.
She was four years old when I first met her,
she was a young little skater at the rink here in San Jose
and her mum had asked me to work with her daughter
and to give her daughter skating lessons.
And when I first saw her,
you could tell right away she had potential
and she had a strong commitment from herself and her family.
One, sharp, up.
My earliest memories of Polina
is back when she was a cute little thing,
she had this nose on, skating to an artistic tune, Pinocchio.
She was amazing.
My mum grew up in Russia
and she had always loved figure skating
and wanted to be a figure skater.
So she went to college
and learnt from the top coaches in Russia.
And when she met my dad and moved to the States with him
she continued to teach skating.
Apparently the story is that
I took my older brother's skates at home
and put them on my feet, at 19 months she decided,
OK, I guess it is time to put you on the ice.
To be a very good skater, you need to have
very good abilities to learn.
I would say very first things and you have champion mind.
Good, nice.
I performed pretty strong in Sochi.
I would say it was definitely two of my best performances.
It was a different experience for me
because there was so much media
and there was so many cameras everywhere.
So, it was very, very fun for me
to be in that situation because I was like,
oh, here I am just like the other skaters
that I have always watched on TV, now I am on TV.
Now all my friends and my school and my rink
and everyone in San Jose and the States is watching me,
everyone in the world is watching me.
I skated very strong in the short,
I skated very strong in the long as well,
I made one mistake but aside from that
I did my best and I definitely have no regrets.
I am currently studying as a student
at Santa Clara University here in San Jose.
I am a communications major.
So, I am studying communications
and basically how people interact with each other.
Maybe we can start with Polina.
- Share your example. - So I went to...
Polina is a great student,
it's wonderful having her in the class.
I very much appreciate the fact
that despite having a busy schedule
and these commitments, she keeps up with her work,
she has not missed any classes
or been late with any assignments.
She seems to be doing the reading.
She is really balancing these two worlds very well
and bringing them into conversation with each other.
That is an excellent point...
This is a class called acting for non-majors.
And it is for people interested in theatre,
who may have some experience or may have had none.
Polina is focused, she is diligent,
she is committed, she has a willingness to play.
It is a feat to be able to pull that off
and she is doing really well.
Freeze!
My social life is definitely important to me,
especially now that I am in college.
I am making lifelong friendships now.
Just being around different people, it is very nice
and it's probably one of my favourite parts of school.
We were talking in a group. It's on my Insta Story.
Polina is always on her phone to keep up on her social media,
and I think she really focuses on giving her followers
like a full view of her life, not just the ice skating.
If we go to the beach, she will post a picture.
What shall we caption the photo of us?
She makes time for her friends, figure skating and sorority.
I share it on my Facebook and my Twitter.
You'd never think she is an Olympic figure skater
because she always makes time to be a good friend,
which I think is very cool.
Posted.
I have a very packed schedule
because I have to fit my studies in with my skating.
There is a lot that goes into my day,
but there's always been a lot in my days since I was young.
Skating is... It's a huge part of my life,
but I don't want it to overtake my life
and be so absorbed in skating that it's all I think about.
Ballet has been very important to my skating
because I transfer that lyrical
and those gentle arms into my skating.
That is basically what makes me look like a dancer on the ice.
Ice skating and ballet go in hand and hand.
For Polina, what I usually work with her
is the epaulement that ballet is amazing with.
She does a fantastic job in our classes
and I love to see her put it towards her skating
Eyes focus, yes!
Good.
My mom is there to be the eyes that I don't have, essentially.
I can't see myself skating, I feel myself skating.
She is brutally honest with how I look and what I am doing.
It is still difficult training with my mom,
just because of the mother-daughter relationship
that we have, it is always hard if your parent is your coach,
but at the same time it is just the greatest blessing.
There is definitely no way I would be where I am
if my mom wasn't my coach.
I think it is very hard to be mother and be coach
at the same time, but like mother I am really amazed,
and like coach I am amazed at what we did this year
and sometimes I am not believing she is my daughter.
The Olympics... I am going to be focused
and putting my all out there.
It is just going to be very hectic and high pressure,
but this is what I've been training for, for four years.
Even though it can be kind of frightening,
it is so much more exciting.
And I am just so ready to get to go through it all again.