Maura's Hard Work Pays Off

Maura has been working hard at her skating all season and it shows in her performance. She skates an extra session every Wednesday after her team practice and though she has doesn’t have a coach to work with her then she uses the time well, practicing what she’s been learning in her Monday lessons and team practices. Off the ice she stretches every morning to improve her flexibility and extension. She does it without any prompting from me.

The hard work is clearly doing some good. Even with my uneducated eyes I can see that she is skating more confidently and smoothly. Her chin is up, her arms are out and her rhythm and timing improve week by week.

We saw the proof of Maura’s improvement last Saturday when she skated in the Skate for the Love of It event at the Asiaf Arena in Brockton, Massachusetts. She tied for first in her individual event. It was her first first place finish ever against competition. Her mother and I are very proud of her and she’s justifiably proud of herself. I got her medal engraved with her name and the date so she can always remember her first victory.

Maura also competed in the stroking competition in which she came in last. I thought she’d done better than that but I’m hardly qualified to judge. Her glasses had slipped down her nose and it looked like she was looking down when she wasn’t. Next time we’ll remind her to push them up before she gets on the ice. We can take this as a lesson in paying attention to the little things. It’s not just on the ice that they make a difference.

After the competition Maura called her grandparents to share the news and her mother and I took her out to lunch to celebrate. It wasn’t an over-the-top celebration but it is what we could afford. Perhaps I can take a reminder from my daughter’s success about the value of hard work. I’ve been working hard on my Web Design Certificate classes but I need to be confident that the work has been worth it if I’m to turn the course of study into a good job. Someday we’ll be able to celebrate Maura’s wins in style.