Going for gold

The take off seemed to go as planned. As he glided through the air and prepared to land his triple lutz, he felt like he was flying. Yet, the moment his skate connected with the ice, his body collided against the surface. Although the fall may have cost Benjamin Shou points in the competition, he wasn’t embarrassed. He knows that everybody falls. It’s all part of the process.

Shou is ranked fifth in the nation as a novice level competitive figure skater. Practicing 30 hours a week allowed him to place second in the Philadelphia Summer Championships and ninth at the US Novice and Junior Challenge Skate in 2015.

“Training for Nationals was an everyday commitment that took tenacity,” Shou said. “I have a lot of pride in that accomplishment because it really represents the coming together of years of work.”

Shou was also chosen to be a part of the 2016 Scholastics Honors team, a program that recognizes ten high school-age U.S. figure skaters who have distinguished themselves in skating, high school academics, and extracurricular and community activities. He was awarded $2,500 in scholarship money and $1,000 to donate to an organization in his name, which he contributed to the Carroll Education Foundation.

“I am both proud and honored to be a part of the team,” Shou said. “I think the best part is knowing that all the years of trying to do my best at skating and school has paid off in such an important way.”

Participating in baseball and gymnastics when he was younger, Shou had always shown an interest in athletics. At the age of six, when he first stepped onto the ice, he knew that he had found his true passion.

“For the first couple of years it was just recreational, I only skated for two to three hours a week,” Shou said. “Around age eight or nine I started training competitively, setting goals, and trying to go to national competitions. That is when I started treating figure skating as a sport rather than just a hobby.”

Shou’s dedication for skating has caused some who know him to wonder if he sees the Olympics in his future. Although competing for the United States was once his long-term goal, he has since decided that his school work must be a priority in his life.

“I want to go to college and pursue academics first. I won’t have enough training time to go to the Olympics or be good enough to qualify. But I’ve always wanted to compete for Team USA at Junior Worlds,” Shou said.

Planning to pursue a double major in biochemistry and political science, Shou takes his academics seriously. Because of this, it has been difficult for Shou to manage his school work with his skating.

“This year has been a hard year for Ben to manage both his studies and his skating,” Darlene Cain, one of Shou’s coaches, said. “His studies take priority as they should and have been very demanding so we couldn’t train as hard as we should have for his major events.”

Although many people Shou’s age can not imagine a life without freetime, Shou has given this up to pursue skating.

“Training often gets monotonous, and Ben has described it as spending a sunny afternoon stuck in an icebox,” Lan Zhang, Shou’s mother, said. “A lot of boys that competed with Ben have dropped out for many reasons, so grit and perseverance is the most important quality that Ben has to be a successful competitor.”

Figure skating is a part of Shou’s life that he hopes to continue for years to come. Although he doesn’t plan to pursue skating professionally, the achievements and personal growth he has gained has made skating an “unparalleled experience.”

“Being on the ice is so different from anything else,” Shou said. “It is limitless with what you want to do on the ice. Of course you’re going to fall, but if you work towards [a goal] you can achieve whatever you want.”