By Aimee Bulger
Staff Writer
Within the impressive set of students at the College, the Class of 2027 transfers brings in an array of accomplishments to rival those before. One that stands out is Kendal Plumstead, a U.S. Figure Skating gold medalist.
Starting at the age of 3, Plumstead, an art education major, has known a life on the ice. Her parents signed her up for the sport young, and after seeing her skill and enthusiasm, she continued skating for 17 years. According to Plumstead, starting the sport that young is rare.
“They saw me on the ice and were like ‘oh she likes it, but she keeps falling and it really hurts her,’ so they strapped this yellow pillow and duck tape around my butt so it wouldn't hurt when I fell and I just loved it from there,” she recalled.
As Plumstead explains it, figure skating is a skill-based sport, meaning that once you reach the age of 9, you are expected to have a certain level of skill and build from there. This means after a certain age, you have to be able to perform certain skills and tricks. This also means that when competing, all age ranges can compete against each other.
Plumstead has obtained a gold medal from the U.S. Figure Skating Association for her moves in the field. Specifically, this category is a test on being able to perform certain skating skills properly. She also won many competitions throughout her career, and passed her Moves in the Field category, with distinction and honors — another rarity within the sport.
“It's like the highest honor in figure skating you can get,” Plumstead said. “It usually takes about six to eight years to complete all the testing for that. So I completed that through Moves in the Field, and I got my first gold medal for that.”
Plumstead also considers her lengthy and successful 17-year career to be an honor itself, as well as being able to start so young with such a strong support system.
She credits her parents for being her strongest support – her dad for bringing her to practices and both her parents for cheering her on all the way through.
“My dad owns his own business so he was able to take off time and get me to my practices, which were sometimes 4 o’clock in the morning, before school, after school, during school, and I’d get pulled out of school for that and all my teachers would accommodate me because they knew it was a really big deal,” she said.
Spending so much of her time skating, Plumstead reflected on how she did not have a typical school experience.
When asked if the demand of the sport made it difficult to balance school, Plumstead said, “No because it was my whole life because I started from a young age, but yes because I didn't get to have a social life.”
“Most get to have a playdate after school and hangout with friends; I didn't have any of that social interaction at all, so it was all just figure skating, figure skating, figure skating.”
Once she got to high school, Plumstead said the balance got much harder, which is when she began to distance from skating.
Plumstead said the 4 a.m. practices, the competitive nature between the skaters, as well as the cliques amongst girls were all difficult to handle at times. However, when she got the chance to perform, all of that melted away.
“Whenever I stepped onto the ice, I felt like I was free,” she said.
Figure skating is a very taxing sport, not only in terms of time demand and mental health, but on the body as well. Around three years ago, she had to stop skating due to injuries in the knee, broken bones, strains, back problems and concussions. The final injury that forced Plumstead to stop skating was a back injury that left her unable to walk for a few days. Plumstead said these injuries will have an impact on her in the future, however, she has no regrets in terms of her career.
Despite no longer skating herself, Plumstead volunteers as a coach for other figure skaters, teaching them new skills and how to grow as skaters themselves. She has been coaching for five years and enjoys helping where she can.
Currently, Plumstead is attending the College as an art education major with a theater minor. Her mother is also a teacher.
Being a transfer student, Plumstead expressed how different the College is to her previous school, the key difference being the people. She said while she had a difficult time making friends and finding her place at her previous school, the College has done the opposite for her.
Now in college, Plumstead also admires the newfound freedom that comes along with a typical school experience, especially outside of a rigorous sport.
“Now that I get to college, I’m like, ‘Woah what is this?’ Experiences and friends, I can have those now and it's a big difference,” Plumstead said.
Currently, Plumstead is in an off campus production as the lead dancer in Beauty and the Beast, at Mercer County Community College’s Kelsey Theater. She said she hopes to continue performing, learning and thriving here at the College.
“It was manageable but difficult,” Plumstead said in regards to her previous career. Sports can be so rewarding, yet so time consuming. Having the drive and dedication to be the best is what sets up success in the future.
