Choosing to continue skating and compete collegiately was a positive decision adding to my collegiate experience. In my initial college selection process, I looked for schools that offered an intercollegiate figure skating team, where I could compete my individual programs. An unexpected surprise was that when I joined the University of Notre Dame's skating team was how much I would fall in love with synchronized skating and how much I would gain from being on both teams.

Starting Out
When I first joined the University of Notre Dame's figure skating team, I knew I wanted to compete on an intercollegiate team. At the time, the majority of team members were only on the synchronized skating team and its was a great way to meet others and build friendships and camaraderie. I was concerned about the time commitment, but my coach, friends and parents encouraged me to give synchronized skating a try. The first few practices were rough as I have never done synchro before. It was scary skating next to people and having to trust your teammates all around you. After the first year of synchro, I knew that this was something I wanted to continue to do during my college career.

Sacrifice and Growth
Being a college athlete requires a lot of time, dedication and sacrifice. Being on both an intercollegiate and synchronized skating teams meant I had double the practices, double the competitions and double the commitment. Sometimes it meant I had a late-night synchro practice and intercollegiate practice the next morning at 6:30 a.m. It meant I had to spend my time studying while my friends would be spending time with each other. But from what I gave up I gained so much more. I was a better skater, leader and teammate. 

Not only was I able to continue my growth in my individual skating by working on my jumps and spins, but from my synchro experience I was able to increase my presentation on the ice and spend time focusing on the twizzles, edges and turns that I often skipped over in my own individual practice. I believe that my experience and work on both teams helped benefit aspects of my skating in both areas. 

Team Camaraderie
Competing on both synchronized skating and intercollegiate teams allowed me to form connections with every single one of my teammates. I spent time and really got to know every teammate. My weekends were often full of practices and competitions, but I was spending time with friends doing what we love. Having this connection to both teams and serving as president my last year on the team allowed me to bridge the gap between both teams and bring everyone together for team bonding experiences, as we were all part of the team for one reason: our love and passion for figure skating. I loved going to synchro competitions and feeling a sense of pride with all my teammates as we heard our university's name called. I loved being able to cheer on my teammates while they were skating their programs at Intercollegiate competitions. I am grateful I was able to experience the fun of both types of collegiate teams. 

At Marquette University, I currently skate on only the intercollegiate team. I wanted to continue skating while in graduate school, but with my rigorous academic and clinical schedule, I knew that being on both teams may not be possible. I look back on my time during undergraduate without any regret being on both teams. I am so thankful that I was able to participate in both teams to get the full collegiate skating experience.

Amanda Rensch is a 2020-21 Collegiate Ambassador and a member of the Marquette University intercollegiate figure skating team.