Points of Departure: “Skating the Program of My Life”
Katharine Huntley-Bachers (COM'15)
Katharine Huntley-Bachers (COM’15) was initially drawn to Boston University because of its Figure Skating Club. She had taken up the sport at age four and wanted to keep skating after high school, a time when most figure skaters give up the sport. “I knew I wasn’t done yet,” she says. She harbored a dream of one day performing at the US Figure Skating Intercollegiate National Championships.
“I wanted it to be my magnum opus,” she says. “The program that I could be proud of forever.”
The sports journalism major fell in love with BU’s skating club, but by the end of sophomore year, she was having difficulty not only skating, but walking. Medical tests confirmed what she feared: tears in both hips that required two major surgeries. She spent much of junior year at home recovering. Professors emailed class notes, teammates visited and sent supporting text messages, and an employee from the nearby Crispy Crepes personally delivered meals to her three-story walk-up in South Campus. Unwilling to face another year being unable to skate, Huntley-Batchers spent fall of senior year studying abroad in Dublin.
She was determined to resume skating when she returned to campus. That meant “starting from scratch,” she says. At this past semester’s first competition, at the University of Delaware, with teammates and her coach cheering her on, Huntley-Bachers wound up “skating the program of my life.” Three weeks later, against all odds, she realized her goal of making it to the national championships, where she placed fifth.
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