At age 4, Emily Yu (12) ice skated for the first time with her parents at the San Diego Ice Arena, with one on either side holding her small hands and guiding her forward. Her parents eventually stepped back to watch her glide across the ice on her own, and Yu’s careful skating developed into bold axel jumps and graceful layback spins. Today, figure skating has become second nature to her.

“I really love it,” Yu said. “I see it as an outlet for me now. It’s, for one, something to do with my time, but also to stay active and express myself. I just love skating around feeling so free.”

Yu began to seriously pursue figure skating when she enrolled in lessons at age 7. Today, she competes as a soloist in the U.S. Figure Skating Excel competitions, which occur in the spring.

Yu practices five days a week, Monday to Friday, in the early mornings. Typically, she wakes up between 4:10 and 4:40 a.m., prepares for the day, and drives herself to the ice rink where she practices her routine and technical skills for an hour and a half. Afterward, Yu heads to school.

In preparation for the Excel competition season, Yu spent two to three months choreographing and practicing a four-minute routine that showcases her ability on the ice. She then performed this routine at multiple regional competitions, where the top qualifying skaters have the opportunity to advance to Nationals. 

This year, Yu is skating to the soundtrack of her favorite movie, “La La Land.” The program begins with the melancholy piano medley of “Mia & Sebastian’s Theme,” and to match the mood, her performance is emotionally expressive with elegant skills. 

“I try to emulate the feeling of the movie from when I watched it,” Yu said. “One of my past teachers once told me to imagine myself in a story as I skate, so I try to imagine myself in ‘La La Land.’”

Halfway through the program, the backtrack picks up its tempo and transitions into “Another Day of Sun.” Yu’s performance is lively, ending with a series of striking leaps and spins.

Yu will compete in her last regional competition tomorrow, and her season ranking will determine whether or not she will advance to this year’s National competition.

Though figure skating is her passion, she has found difficulty balancing her sport with her academics. However, she said that senior year has provided her the opportunity to focus more on skating, an opportunity which she is grateful for.

“Junior year was a struggle, especially in the midst of AP exams,” Yu said. “I was sleeping at 12 or one and then waking up at four or five for skating practice. At that point, I really wasn’t skating much because of academics. But, now in senior year, it’s laid off a little bit and I’ve been [skating] a lot more.”

Despite not being able to train as frequently in her junior year, Yu placed second in the Pacific regional level after two months of competitions and advanced to the National competition in Houston, Texas for the first time. Yu said that he

r experience at Nationals had both pressures and excitements.

“It was nerve-wracking going in and seeing how good everyone was,” she said. “But the experience was super fun. You get to interact with other skaters in your group from across the United States, and you get to train with some Olympians as a master class.”

When competing with high stakes, Yu said that ice skating is not only physically taxing, but also a mental challenge. She said that the best way to overcome these barriers is to have confidence in her abilities.

“I tell myself, ‘It’s okay,” Yu said. “I’m prepared. I’ll do my best. It’s going to be over in four minutes. I’ll just get through it and I’ll be done.”

Like many other ice skaters, Yu said she has adopted pre-performance rituals to calm their nerves.

“Most skaters before [their performance] sit down, listen to their music, and visualize the program in their head,” she said. “You imagine yourself skating a clean program and that usually helps you calm down and get you in the zone.”

Despite the difficulties of figure skating, Yu said that perfectly executing a skating routine during a competition is what makes the hard work worth it.

“It’s the best feeling you could possibly have,” she said.

Yu said that her love of skating is also attributed to the supportive community that it has given her.

“The friends and the coaches I’ve met have really helped me grow, not just as a skater but as a person throughout all these years,” she said. “It’s almost like another family at the rink. Generally, as you get to the higher levels, you start seeing more of the same people. The more I’ve skated, the more I’ve grown into this tight-knit group of people. We’re all competing, but at the same time we’re all cheering each other on, saying good luck, and giving each other hugs afterward.”

Yu also has experience competing in a synchronized skating team. She joined Team Del Sol her sophomore year while she was recovering from injuries, as synchronized skating required less jumps and spins. Although she enjoyed her time on the team, Yu decided to return to competing solo.

“With solo, I really like jumps and spins because it just feels cooler to me and it feels more intense and free,” Yu said. “But, I really do like synchronized skating because of the people that you get to skate with, and you get to travel in a team, which is always super fun.”

After graduation, Yu said she hopes to continue skating by joining the figure skating club at the University of Pennsylvania, which she will attend in the fall. To Yu, ice skating has been, and will continue to be, an important aspect of her life.

“There’s no doubt that skating is incredibly difficult and exhausting at times,” Yu said. “But, despite it all, I love it for the strength, freedom, and community that it’s given to me throughout these years. I couldn’t imagine my life without it.”