“You can’t get too much winter in the winter” – Robert Frost.
There’s nothing like the feeling you get the day after halloween. With a belly full of candy and all the scare spooked out of you, it is now “acceptable” to blast holiday classics through the speakers.
Sadly, as a student, it’s almost impossible to partake in all the winter festivities I like at the moment. With upcoming deadlines for assignments and exams in a month (cringe) I came to terms with the fact that I’d have to wait for the break to get my skates on, or so I thought…
As if someone heard my sorrow, one morning these flyers showed up all over the Davis building:
How?! How could there be a rink in our gym? How can I skate on this rink? As soon as I went home that night, I pulled out my dusty skates and got them sharpened. Finally, Friday came.
Upon entering the RAWC’s gym, I remember being immediately overcome by everyone there. After all, it was a Friday – students were either studying for the next midterm or out partying with friends. And yet there everyone was: smiling, laughing, drinking hot chocolate, and skating on glice.
I was mesmerized. I had never considered the possibility of skating in temperate conditions, never mind my university’s GYM! Spotting one of my friends already doing laps, I laced on my skates and stepped on the glice.
IT. FELT. JUST. LIKE. A. SKATING. RINK.
I was there for three hours! Three Hours!
There was an awesome DJ, booths from student clubs all around giving out free swag, a photo booth with our feathered-mascot-friend.
They even had cool little challenges, where you had to skate in certain ways to win prizes. When they announced that they were having a competition for who can dance best while skating, I obviously started busting out moves (and my hip because I’m a little bit out of shape) and won?!?!
They captured a little bit of me disco-ing awkwardly in the cool Instagram montage by utm_athletics.
It was awesome seeing everyone on the glice. There were so many of us just learning to skate for the first time! Pals were lending an outstretched hand to help each other balance, fellow classmates were teaching each other how to skate backwards, and friendships were made via twirling competitions.
I’d have to say that above all, my favourite part of the afternoon was seeing everyone’s genuine smiles. After a stressful period of midterms, the ability to let go of the rigid student-schedule for a few hours and return to our youthful days of letting loose (and losing our balance) was freeing.
I haven’t had this much fun at school since kindergarten! Though my feet still hurt from shredding up the ice with my clumsy footwork, I know I will cherish this afternoon for a very long time.
If you missed the MoveU skating rink, no worries. This is definitely an event that will come back next year, not forgetting to mention all the other fun events that MoveU and the Health and Counselling Centre organize every year! You can keep track of these events by following the UTM Athletics page on Facebook!
Until next time, GO EAGLES! 🙂
Sincerely,
Shelby.
Living Onwards, Looking Up 