Entering college has been a whirlwind of emotions and obviously has its impacts on my mental health. I spent my winter break scrolling through my reels and watching “The Office,” and I have had a lack of motivation to do any of my work. On my third hour of scrolling, I came across a beautiful routine of an American skater named Alysa Liu skating to Laufey’s “Promise.”
As I watched the routine, I was enraptured by the ease with which she transitioned from jumps to spins and back to jumps. Obviously, I opened the comment section to find out who this skater was, and then I fell into the rabbit hole of Alysa Liu.
Alysa Liu became a US champion at 13 years old, setting a record as the youngest champion ever. In 2022, she placed sixth at the Beijing Winter Games and earned bronze at the World Figure Skating Championship. After this incredible run, she made a post on Instagram declaring her retirement from skating at the peak of most skaters’ careers.
Alysa took time to explore her life: visiting Everest, studying psychology at UCLA, and getting her driver’s license. She took her break to live life as a teenager. In 2024, she realized she missed skating and began again just for fun. When she restarted skating, she understood it as her way of expressing herself through art.
When she returned, she talked about regaining control over her career and the art of skating.
“I had no art to show before. People were making me skate to this [music], putting me in that dress, I had no control,” Liu told ESPN.
Seeing her short program truly showed how that aspect changed.Â
Her skate to the song “Promise” seems to be an analogy to her relationship with skating. Laufey sings “I made a promise to distance myself” connecting to Liu retiring from skating for her mental health. Laufey continues in the song “No matter how long I resist temptation / I will always lose / It hurts to be something / It’s worse to be nothing / With you.” These verses show Liu’s connection to skating and how although she was burnt out from skating, she knew that it was her passion and that she needed to continue to be connected to it.
Although Laufey’s “Promise” shows no difference in the relationship after, Alysa Liu has come back with a goal to keep a healthy relationship with skating.
She told NBC Olympics that although she’s at the pinnacle of her sport, it didn’t affect her.
“I don’t know exactly what it is, but I really don’t feel nervous or, like, I don’t feel the pressure,” she said. “There’s nothing like holding me down, holding me back. I invite it all in. So no matter what happens, it’s a story. It’s a story.”
Looking at these quotes and the emotional performance by Liu has made me rethink my outlook on school as well. It’s kind of cheesy, but college is just another chapter in my story, and whatever happens is going to happen. Although it’s hard, I want to embrace this semester and take it easy. That might mean skipping a lecture and watching the recording later or eating by myself to take a break from being social. I enjoy college life, and I love learning, but it’s possible to burn out from doing what you love because you push yourself too hard.
Thanks to Alysa Liu, I’ve realized that taking a break once in a while is okay and it doesn’t mean you’re a bad student. Everybody has their boundaries and this semester I aim to find mine and make college a healthy chapter of my life.
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