300 Words: A figure skater

Nate Brown, Staff Reporter • Dec 28, 2017

The whisper of skates on ice, the feeling of flying, the momentum, the adrenaline rush.

The spotlight is on Sandra as she weaves her own history into the ice, back and forth, left and right, leaping and landing. Sandra Yordy (10) cannot see the fans in the bleachers but she knows the fluidity of her program has caught the attention of everyone around the rink.

This isn’t just a routine she spent months perfecting, it is a part of her heart and soul. It has wrapped itself around ligaments and became muscle memory, as easy as breathing to her.

From fall after fall in practice to first places in competition, Sandra has dedicated her life to being a skater. She first fell in love with the art of ice skating on the sidelines of her cousin’s hockey game. Sandra witnessed an older girl skating near the end of her lesson and she was instantly infatuated. She was no longer interested in the hockey game, but in the want to ice skate.

And at the age of 8, she knew that was what she was meant to be: a skater.

Photos Courtesy of The Yordy Family, Photography Credits to KR Photography
Photos Courtesy of The Yordy Family, Photography Credits to KR Photography
Photos Courtesy of The Yordy Family, Photography Credits to KR Photography
Photos Courtesy of The Yordy Family, Photography Credits to KR Photography

Sandra finds the ice an enchanting playground for the young and old, a place where she has found herself in physically draining lessons, where she has found friends and her own purpose. Sandra, the girl of ice and impossible passion, has been living the life of a skater since first grade. Despite all she has endured, Sandra still refuses to quit.

The pause between her music and the shattering applause surrounding her is bone-chilling and this, this is the feeling she fell in love with seven years ago. It has been so long since Sandra first set foot on ice but she is nowhere near stopping now. The only direction is forward for her.

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About the Contributor

Nate Brown, Staff Reporter

Nate Brown is a sophomore at Normal Community High School who takes part in book club, G.S.A, and Best Buddies. Journalism 1 in the 2017-2018 school year is his first year with this class at NCHS, but at his previous school he took a yearbook/graphic design class had a similar curriculum. My hobbies include writing and reading. Over the summer, I participated in a week-long English studies camp at Eastern Illinois University. A book that moved me is The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller due to its components of ancient Greece, LGBT+ characters (plus a heckin' rad relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, even though it's tragic), and masterful writing by Miller.