I knew what I was getting myself into before I started this. I knew it was going to be fierce competition. If it's meant to be, I'll make the team. If not, I tried my best.

I started skating at age 2 on roller skates on the South Side of Chicago, where I grew up. By age 4, roller-skating was something I really enjoyed. Everyone around me wanted to do the 'roll bounce' thing, but I was pretty much only interested in going fast.

I did my best, but fell a little short. To me, that's more important than the handshake.

The real preparation for races is done in the off-season. I put in the hard work during the summer and fall, and I'm always working on technique so that when the actual races come around I'm ready to go.

Because it's an improvement. As long as I'm improving, I'm pretty happy if it's a world record or a rink record.

It's tough, but I knew what I was getting myself into before I took the challenge. I'm happy that I didn't back down from the challenge of trying to chase my dreams and goals.