Junior Allison Kim is a competitive figure skater who has achieved many accomplishments, including participating in the United States Figure Skating Junior National Championships in 2018, and placing second in a regional competition last summer season.
She started skating when she was four years old after her mom signed her up for group classes. Her ability to progress quickly motivated Kim to stick to the sport.
“Out of all the other sports I started doing when I was younger, I always learned [skating] really quickly[, in terms of] gaining new skills,” Kim said. “Ice skating was much easier than gymnastics or ballet.”
What she grew to love most about the sport, however, was the competitive side.
“I like the competition atmosphere, the nervousness,” Kim said. “But also seeing everyone, all your rivals and being pumped up and wanting to beat them.”
In order to prepare for competitions, Kim follows a busy training schedule before school.
“It depends but I skate about three to four days a week for two hours normally,” Kim said. “On Saturdays and Sundays, my coach will have an off-site session where we just work out and do skating-specific [exercises].”
With such a demanding schedule, Kim credits her mom for being her biggest supporter along the way.
“She was always getting up really early in the morning to drive me to the rink before I got my [driver’s] license,” Kim said “Or if it’s a really late night from work, the next morning she will make breakfast for me. She’s always at the rink watching me and cheering me on.”
Kim’s friend, junior Ava Goh, admires her for her ability to manage her schedule with her early mornings.
“She’s very committed considering that she practices so early in the morning and then continues to come to school and go to work,” Goh said. “It’s pretty impressive and a lot of people would not be determined to keep up with everything.”
In addition to her determination, friends describe Kim as extremely caring and encouraging.
“She’s very empathetic.” Goh said. “If you’re ever going through something, she’s a really good person to comfort you and make you feel better. At the same time, she’s … motivating you, making sure you stay on top of your stuff.”
When describing her experience participating in the Junior National Championships, Kim loved how even with the high level of competition, there was still so much support and love amongst the athletes.
“There’s no animosity between us even though we’re all competing against each other,” Kim said. “Because when you’re performing, you’re performing for yourself and you’re trying to do your best, beating whatever you scored last.”
However, it has not been an easy ride and she has also faced many challenges along the way.
“There’s this point, I think in all sports too, where you hit a plateau where you just don’t really advance and it gets me really frustrated,” Kim said. “Learning new skills now definitely takes me longer than it did when I was younger. It takes me a couple of years instead of a couple of months.”
When faced with these mental blocks, Kim looks towards the younger generation for motivation.
“I see all the younger people now, the newer generation of skaters, and they catch on things so much faster,” Kim said. “That’s a very good motivator because you don’t want them to catch up to you, you don’t want to be competing as a 16-year-old against a bunch of 12-year-olds, because there’s no age limit.”
Ultimately, Kim plans on continuing figure skating after high school. Although figure skating is not an NCAA sport, Kim is excited to continue her journey in college.
