At 4:45 a.m., junior Eve Thompson rolls out of bed. The sky is dark and the air is cold, and Thompson is awake before her peers. While the streetlights are lit, Thompson has breakfast. The birds have yet to wake when she walks out the door. When she arrives at the recreation center and pulls on her skates, the earliest risers are stretching. Thompson has been skating since age three when her mother put her and her siblings into skating lessons and she has not left the sport since.

“I loved it!” Thompson said.

Thompson is the captain of the girls figure skating team where she is in charge of making sure girls know where they are supposed to be. She also organizes team events and sometimes leads practices. Her practices take place at the St. Croix Valley recreational center, where programs like Learn-to-Skate take place.  This is also where skaters can letter in varsity skating. Through this leadership, she has been able to grow close with the girls she skates with.

“I’ve made really strong friendships through skating. I love the girls I skate with,” Thompson said.

Thompson has been performing in shows and at hockey games within the district, among other events. Her favorite of these events is performing solos in shows. Thompson usually performs about once a month, where you can see her leaping, dancing and her favorite–spinning.

“I just love performing, especially when it’s not for a medal. It’s just fun and exciting,” said Thompson.

Thompson is able to juggle her schoolwork along with her studying because she practices in the morning. While it makes her schedule more cramped, it wakes her up in the morning and gets her ready for the day. Because she is able to control the times she skates, she is not negatively affected by the extra activity.

“It keeps her very busy,” junior Isabel Day said, “I’m talking practices before and after school.”

Day, who has been friends with Thompson since ninth grade, can see the confidence growing in Thompson after years of watching her skate, especially when she performs in front of others.

Yet the busy schedule does not faze Thompson. She has been skating for so many years that instead of tiring her, skating wakes her up in the morning.

“It’s just a routine for me!” Thompson said.

Skating has benefited Thompson in more ways than the happiness it brings her, being on the ice is also soothing.

“It’s always been comforting and natural to me and I love it,” Thompson said.

While figure skating might calm Thompson, it also helps her in school and other aspects of her life.

“It has definitely helped my memory because of all the things I have to remember for skating,” Thompson said.

The reasoning behind Thompson’s love for skating cannot be found in the lights or graceful choreography, but a person might be able to see the reason in her expression while she performs. Figure skating, Thompson said, soothes her.

“It’s always been comforting and natural to me and I love it,” Thompson said.

Thompson might not be planning to continue her individual skating, but wishes to continue it during college and pursue her love for coaching further.