I am writing this note as I pack for my trip to Korea. I can’t believe a year has passed. I had such great experiences this past season. I’m so grateful for all of them. I want to promise you guys that I will write in this journal more often this coming season. You can always get an update of my day by following me on Twitter at @adaripp!
First I have to thank Jamie and Daphne from Figure Skaters Online for the amazing job on my website. They have super talents and are so generous with their time. Thank you ladies. I really appreciate it very much.
Last season was great. It began with making new programs. It was the first time I worked with David Wilson from start to finish on competitive programs. It’s a complete understatement to say that I had fun. I loved every second working on the choreography and it was something that I was really happy with and I hope everyone enjoyed them.
It was also a year of some firsts! Last season was my first trip to Korea, my first medal on the senior Grand Prix and first senior championship gold. My show schedule last summer was something I felt honored to have.
It started with a trip to Korea for “Festa on Ice”. The fans in Korea greeted me and all the skaters, so warmly. I want you all to know how much I appreciated it. While skating in the shows, I couldn’t believe that fans were screaming… FOR ME! It was amazing. Later that summer, I had the chance to skate in Mao Asada and Miki Ando’s show, “The Ice”, in Japan. It was a total blast. I always love traveling to Japan. Again, I have to thank all my Japanese fans for the great time I had. It makes me very excited to return to Japan this year for, “The Ice”, once again! My final show in the off season was “Ice All Stars” in Korea. The cast was different than Festa and included Michelle Kwan. Wow, it was a dream come true to skate with Michelle. It was a surreal experience! The Korean fans again were so welcoming and I can’t thank them enough for all their support. I am truly humbled.
My competitions this season were pretty solid. I was really proud with how I skated this year. Winning my first medal on the senior grand prix was very cool. I loved skating in France! I had the chance to travel to Nagano, Japan for NHK and although I didn’t skate my best it was a step forward for the rest of the season. Overall, US Nationals was a very positive event. I was upset with myself for making stupid mistakes but I learned a lot and was happy to have placed in the top 5. Placing in the top 5 enabled me to skate at the Four Continent Championships. It was about 5 days after my return back to Toronto before I left for Jeonju City in South Korea. I was still coming down from Nationals and getting ready for the competition at the same time. Mentally it was exhausting. In the short program at 4CC, I let my mind get the best of me. I felt tired, unprepared, and just overall I felt badly about the mistakes I had made at nationals and in the short program that had just happened. The next day I had the long program and I said to myself, “Adam? What are you doing? Shut up and skate. No one cares if you’re tired. You know you are ready and go out and FIGHT!” and then, after some self though-love, I felt ready to compete. I skated a clean long and went on to win the competition. It felt so great!
When I returned to Toronto I was unsure of what to do next. Do I get ready for Worlds? Do I go home and visit my family? I decided to wait a little bit before I booked my ticket. Then, I got the call! I was named to the World team! I was so excited and thankful I stayed on the ice after the Four Continents competition. The World Championships was incredible. I was really pleased I was able to skate well. I did my best to enjoy the entire event and I hope it showed. When I came back from Worlds I had the chance to go home and visit with my family for a little bit. I love going home because I don’t have the chance to see my brothers and sisters during the season. It was a short lived “vacation”.
When it was over I had the chance to join the cast of the Sears’ Stars On Ice Tour through Canada. It is such a big and beautiful country! I enjoyed myself so much while on tour. I was the youngest one in the cast and it was my first time on tour so everyone was really going out of their way to make me feel at home. By the end, the cast felt like family to me. I also had a chance to skate in the Skokie Superstars shows hosted by Scott Hamilton, a lot of my friends were in the show so it was great to have a chance to visit with them and meet a lot of dedicated fans too.
I am currently tossing around program ideas with David and planning my preseason training schedule with Brian. I am getting on a plane in a few hours to perform in Hyundai Card Super Match show in Seoul. You guys are amazing and I’m so grateful for your support.
Thank you,
Adam