The Robert Crown Community Ice Complex is quiet and almost empty, early Monday morning.

Marielle Collins skates to "Rhythm of the Night" at a exhibition show in Hagerstown, Md.

I remember begging my parents to buy me my first pair of ice skates and how many hours of group lessons it took before I was able to do my first waltz jump. I was eight when I saw Tara Lipinski win the figure skating gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics. After that I was hooked.

Before coming to Northwestern, I spent two weeks in at the International Skating Center Connecticut, training with a Russian coach named Igor. Each week we got to the rink at 7 a.m. and didn’t leave until 6:30 p.m. It was all day figure skating, and I loved it.

The day after arriving back from ISCC, I packed up and left for Northwestern. I put my skates in the bottom of my suitcase; I told myself that I would definitely be able to take a bus or taxi to a rink in Evanston. I figured we would have plenty of free time for me to be able to skate in the afternoon after classes. Apparently I did not quite think everything through.

After arriving at cherubs, I soon found out that not only would most of our afternoons be busy. But as a student I would not be allowed to ride the bus or get a taxi. At first I started to panic. There was no way I could go five weeks without skating. I didn’t know what to do.

After taking a few deep breaths, I Googled the rink in Evanston and found out that it is only two and a half miles from campus. I realized it would only take me about 15 minutes if I biked there. The only problem was I took a plane from my home in West Virginia and I definitely did not fit a bike in my carryon.

Determined that this would not stop me, I headed downtown to a bike store in Evanston. The man was very friendly and helped me buy my first bike in ten years. I mapped out the route to the rink, and called the community center for the ice schedule.

I calculated that if I woke up at 5:30 a.m., I could be at the rink by 6 a.m., skate for a little more than an hour and be back in time to shower for class.

Getting up at 5:30 a.m. to bike to the skating rink probably seems absolutely crazy to most people, but to me there was no question. I had to do it.

The first time I went I could hardly get myself out of bed. I was so afraid I would get lost or not make it back in time. After a few times, however, I began to enjoy my early morning adventure. There were hardly any skaters at the rink that early, and I had the ice almost all to myself.

This seemed like a luxury after the busy Connecticut training center. In the crazy, hectic life of a journalism cherub with deadlines, rotating rewrites, new assignments and lectures, it was a relief to have a quiet place to clear my head.

There in Evanston my two great passions in life collided. Figure skating and writing are both things I have been doing ever since I was a little girl, and I could never bear to give either up.  

I have learned so much at cherubs. I have learned how to be a concise writer, an observant reporter and a discerning editor. But perhaps more importantly, I learned that there is nothing I can’t do if I am truly dedicated to making it happen.

Waking up and biking to the skating rink at 5:30 a.m. only to rush back and spend all day in class is not how most 17-year-olds envision their summer, but looking back it was absolutely perfect. I would not have wanted it any other way.