There is a feeling I get when first stepping into an ice skating rink. The cold air hits my face and a rush of adrenaline courses through my body. I am ready to glide. 

This was not the feeling I got when I came to ice skate at the student union on Wednesday. The disappointment on my face was quite evident when I got onto the “ice” as they loosely called it. 

I have been ice skating multiple times in my life at the Dodge City Wireless Arena. It is a tradition to go every Thanksgiving. 

I walked into the student union thinking I was going to nail this [I didn’t]. I’ve been skating before and knew how the basics worked. What I wasn’t prepared for though was the fact that it wasn’t real ice. 

The rink was actually made up of this soft, plastic kind of material. It shredded on the skates like ice would, leaving shards on the bottom of the blades, but actually skating on it was much different than ice. 

I struggled throughout the whole seven minutes that I skated, trying to keep my balance. The plastic material was difficult to glide on compared to ice and the tactics I normally use when ice skating didn’t quite work in this situation. 

I eventually learned within the first two or so minutes that the best thing that worked for gliding was to do a “pizza” with my feet making a triangle. This maneuver only lasted me about three or four feet before I would stop and wobble again but it worked better than anything I had previously tried. 

Once I learned how to stay up, I started getting confident and trying some tricks. But as they say, pride comes before an almost fall. 

I first tried to do a twirl but I could only go about halfway before I got shaky and almost fell. I was able to catch myself though in the knick of time. 

I then started slowly ‘gliding’ around the rink and got confident enough to try another trick. This time I tried lifting up one of my feet while spreading out my arms. 

I felt like a baby giraffe first learning how to use its legs – clumsy and awkward. I could only get my foot about three or four inches off the ground for a second before I felt myself starting to wobble. 

Luckily, I didn’t fall. What can I say? I’m a master of the ice… er, plastic.

By the end of my trick fails, I was tired and decided that was enough embarrassing myself for the day. The hardest part of the whole experience though was taking the skates off at the end.

Pro Tip: make sure you loosen the laces… a lot. 

Thank you, Celeste Donovan and Wade Lyon of SCCC student life, for putting together this activity for students. Despite my failed efforts, it was a fun activity to do to destress myself between classes.