Junior Hannah Paulik discovered her love for ice skating in fifth grade when she was watching the Olympics. Paulik was sitting on her couch and watched in awe as ice skaters participated in speed skating, a form of ice skating that is similar to track, in which the skaters go on either short or long ice tracks as well as doing a marathon. Paulik admired the flawless skaters zooming by each other doing their best to zip down the ice with grace. Compared to her dancing lessons, skating looked more lively and Paulik knew she belonged on the rink. 

“Skating is hard because some things are not something you can get overnight, and you have to actually work and work and work for it,” said Paulik. “It can make it hard to go to lessons if you’ve been working on the same thing and you don’t feel like you’re going anywhere.” 

Paulik is a member of Mercy’s ice skating team. The team meets every morning at Farmington Ice Arena to practice from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. The ice skating team is one of the reasons Paulik decided to attend Mercy, but she does not plan on making ice skating her career. Instead, she hopes to make Disney on Ice her backup career, while pursuing something in theater.

Currently, Paulik is diving into her theater interest by being a part of the makeup crew for Mercy’s spring musical. Along with her hectic schedule with skating, makeup crew, and homework, Paulik does a lot of work on her family’s farm, DP Farm, in Linden, Michigan. The Pauliks’ farm is a beef farm and the only animals they have are cows. 

“We have naturally grass-fed beef. So, we breed and raise cattle and feed them grass, and then they are taken to a processor to make them into meat,” said Paulik. 

With the many interests and activities in Paulik’s life that certainly keep her busy, she plans on keeping ice skating as a constant no matter what happens.