I have always had big dreams. The last seven years of my life have been spent working towards this goal, this dream. The very thought of it makes me want to jump up and down with excitement. That’s what keeps me going. My motivation: to make an Olympic team for Speedskating. This idea that making the Olympic team and competing with the world’s best athletes is something so wonderful I can’t grasp it. I can only imagine it as being my own piece of Heaven on Earth.

My whole life revolves around Speedskating and the Olympics. Whenever the Olympics are on I’m glued to the TV for those three weeks. Watching someone’s reaction when they win the gold medal… Watching someone’s expression when they stand on the top of the podium while their National Anthem is being played… They’re so infinite, it’s as if you can feel the happiness radiate off of them. It’s the very moment they’ve been waiting for their whole lives. It’s the moment they realize that all the parties and get togethers they passed up and all the training they did was worth it... That is my motivation. That is what keeps me going. It’s the Olympic atmosphere, the look of victory on someone’s face when they win the gold medal, the screams of joy, the truly infinite looks on people’s faces. I simply cannot get over it.

That is what keeps me going. That is what keeps me training as hard as I do. It’s my reason for doing the extra lap at practice and my reason for passing up countless parties and high school experiences. It’s my reason for letting Speedskating be my life. It’s my reason to live. Some people ask me why I Speedskate so much. I just look at them and say, “I’m going places…”