A Bad Start to 2015 and a New Mission
This first full week of January has not been good to me. I was heading home from the rink after a public session on Sunday when I got into a minor car accident. I was in the left-hand turn lane and attempting a legal U-turn when another car was attempting a right turn onto the lane I was going into. The woman driving the car didn’t stop at her red light, didn’t see me, and smashed into the front passenger side door of my car. I saw her coming right at me and tried to look at her as I U-turned, but rather than brake, she accelerated. Boom.
Thankfully, nobody was hurt. She was an older driver, probably in her 70s, and she had her seat belt on and had nobody else in the car. I was driving alone and also had my seat belt on. Her car had minor scratches on the front bumper, while my car got a really big dent in the passenger side door.
I’ve been dealing with insurance companies and collision centers all week, so that has not been fun. The lady who hit me admitted fault, apologized to me, and may have also received a citation for failing to yield on a red light (the police officer at the scene said she was at fault). So at least I have that going in my favor.
Then, there was skating practice on Monday. Two chunks of the ice were undergoing some repair, so maintenance placed some large tires around the areas where we weren’t allowed to skate. The ice was extremely chopped up, and there were another 1000 kids practicing. Since the ice was bad/under repair and the session was busy, I did not get to run my programs.
Blow #3 came when a skating coach (one I highly respect) laughed at me when I said that my goal was to qualify for the Championship Gold ladies event at Adult Nationals. In order to do this, I have to place in the top 4 at Sectionals. I did the math, and it’s completely within reach if I work hard enough. But seeing this coach’s reaction really got me riled up. How were they to know if the other skaters are better than me or if I could skate a clean program? I was all fired up after that and now have a new motivation to prove them wrong.
Although this hasn’t been a smooth start to 2015, I’m determined to make things better. I’ll get the car fixed, find a way to get the lady’s insurance to pay for everything, and then work my darndest to skate a smooth, clean program and qualify for Nationals. All my life I’ve heard that I wasn’t good enough, or smart enough, or athletic enough for things, so I am out to prove myself.
Watch out, because it’s no more Ms. Nice Gal. I’m on a mission now.
Update: I talked to the offending coach, who has since apologized. They said it wasn’t their intention to hurt me, but I am still fired up regardless.
