At the age of 3, senior Andrea Partenio learned to skate. This took up the next 11 years of her life.

“I went to my neighbor’s ice show,” Partenio said. “The skaters were so graceful, and (skating) looked like fun, so I begged my mom to let me do it.”

When Partenio started adding spins and jumps, she learned that being a graceful skater comes at a price.

“When I was 10, I was doing a sit spin and caught the edge of the rink and smaked my chin on the ice,” Partenio said. “I had to have eight stitches.”

Injures did not stop Partenio, however. Skating became not just something to do for fun but a sport.

She soon began to skate competitively and would travel as far as Vail, Colo., for competitions.

“It’s a really time-consuming sport,” Partenio said. “I was always working on new spins and practicing new routines. It was one of the main reasons I quit; skating was taking up too much of my life.”

Partenio stopped competing as a freshman. She continued to skate and do testing till her sophomore year.

“The people you skate with become your family,” Partenio said. “I miss the friends I made while skating the most, and I just miss the thrill of skating.”