Stephanie Roth, the 1999 North Atlantic Junior Champion and 2000 and 2001 Eastern Bronze Medalist, recently chatted with Ellie about her skating.

How and when did you begin skating?
I started skating at age 4. My mom enrolled me in group lessons as an after-school activity.

What are your goals for next season?
This season, of course, I want to be back at Nationals. But, this year I would like to make a big enough impact to be put into an envelope, so that I would hopefully get an international in the fall.

What are your long-term goals, both on and off the ice?
Well, if I'm able to continue skating next year (my parents are divorced, and my father refuses to support me in any way - on and off the ice), I would like to make the 2003 Worlds, especially because they are in the States. I would also like to do some shows, possibly with Disney. In the end, I know that I want to become a coach; I've already got my taste of that because I do choreography from time to time, but before I settle down to coach I would like to go to college and be a drama major. I have a love for acting and would really like to give that a try.

What specific elements of your skating do you hope to improve this summer?
I am definately working to improve my consistancy with the harder triples, and trying to add some triple-triples to my arsenal. I'm also working on presenting my programs so that people can enjoy watching them as much as I enjoy skating them.

What should we look for in your programs next year?
I'm kind of changing directions a bit with my programs. For the first time in five years, none of my music comes from a movie soundtrack. I've gone a little more edgy with my short; so it'll be a very fun, techno-like orchetra piece that I think spectators will be able to get into very much. For long, I went back to a piece I used a long time ago, Prokofiev's Cinderella. I hope this turn back to classical music will show that even though I am a rather powerful skater, I can still be soft and balletic.

Which skater do you admire the most and why?
I definately admire Michelle Kwan. Her skating is so incredibly well-rounded and even when she is the underdog she doesn't seem affected. She always knows what she has to do and just does it. Besides, she has had very long career, and to have the drive for that many years to just keep working everyday and growing from year to year, is just incredible.

What is it about skating that you love so much?
Skating has become a part of me over the years. If I'm not on the ice, I feel incomplete. Like anything else, it has it's ups and it's downs, but in the end after all the hard work, your day does finally come, even if it takes awhile. So I guess what I love about skating is what most people love about anything else: I enjoy getting my day in the end - when you have that amazing performance and know you've done the best you could.