Agentic AI, Real‑Time Data and the Lakehouse: 2026 Predictions

Moi, jäbete tunteet podcastin ja valjo Polarin kuudenjakson sisältä saariassa mekeskustellaan rohkeasti siitä, mikä on vahvutta. Ekkassa jaksossa sukeletaan Jarrisaarion vahvuusmatkaan. Se sulla mun mielestä, sulla kunnia tehtävät olla jonkun nuoreni ihmiseeelämässä, antaa sille esimerkkiä. Mikä se ei kaillut seuraavaksi? Jarrisaarianjakson ja jäbete tunteet podcastin löydet kaikista suosittuimista suara toista palveluista. Dervetuloa mukaan. Välpa encontrarite. Alex Morris, senior writer et Rolling Stone Janette siわか finances on pääcke surkeista Finnam-illissa. Niin ei ole hafta lapsin fannombirioiden Video Millenn�에 Mä olemme Alex. Mä olemme on Rolling Stone Interview. Kiitos. Ja se on saada. Ja, luului. Sitten on joku. Joten on sen, että on joku tosi vuotta. Sitten on joku tosi vuotta. Täällä on koko, että se on tullut. Se on tullut 3 ja sitten sen, että se on tullut. Tämä on tullut, että se on tullut. Mä oon tullut teemme suuri, että se on tullut. Shut all night long as he seis vuotta ei ole sen kaksi. Äatkä f Finish my booking refletttää. Sit chei toistetas jo he微äköi. Kaniille saa muuten renting ja väänlichesi�i. - Vi nichts jää ja batta se ole muistan syär nessa ja se ei ole v шansaa. - Täällä ei ole kaksi, mutta ei ole vähä. Mutta ei ole mitään annan asiaa. Sä oon nimiä. Se on sellaisia, mutta se on sellaisia. Se on sellaisia. Ja se on sellaisia. Ja se on sellaisia. - Kun tämän rauhoitetaan tämän rauhoitetaan. - Sitten se on sellaisia. Sitten haluan tämän rauhoitetaan tämän rauhoitetaan tämän rauhoitetaan. Ja se on sellaisia. Se on sellaisia. Se on sellaisia. Se on sellaisia. Se on sellaisia. Se on sellaisia. Ja se on sellaisia. Ja se on sellaisia. encyäv on heribia hypeeon comprawanettuna. Se terrainta viiri on, ku little in your program. So, I'll go to my short program, promised by Levy. I was listening to that song since she released it. And it was one of my favorites, and I really related to it. On a personal level and I was like, wow, this is perfect for my figure skating story too. I have to skate to it. It moves me, I can envision a program to it so well. I thought it was a perfect choice. Then with my state side by Pink Pantherous and Zara Larsson Gallinumbert, it's one of my favorite songs. Pink Pantherous actually had, she has her, like, OG, it's just her state side, but then on Zara hopped on it, like, it's the remix. A lot of Zara's lyrics I related to a line. I was like, wow, this would be so perfect for the Olympic Gala. And so that's kind of how it came about. What's a lyric you related to? I mean, when she starts, she says, like, all these years I've put in for the American Dream, is it worth all the work if you can be here with me? Something like that. But I really related to that line. I was like, oh, this describes kind of like the whole Olympic experience because it's so many people's dreams. And like, you put in years of work. I don't know. I thought it was pretty cool. It's pretty perfect. Yeah. I mean, the dance elements and the artistry were so impressive. I've heard you refer to yourself as like Anna Drinnellen, Junkie. And that's the same way you have you felt when you were skating. And yeah, at least when you enjoyed it. That you were getting these dopamine hits. That it was. Yeah. What was it that you love about it? Was it the feeling of going faster, the feeling of doing a jump and like, the sort of danger of it? Yeah. I love the danger of it. I also love going fast and spinning is fun, jumping is really fun. And it's just satisfying whenever I land it or when I do it the way I want to do it. I also love dancing. And with figures getting you can kind of dance on the ice. It's way limited. But the little bit I can do on the ice is really fun. You're an amazing dancer on the ice. Nice. I mean, have you watched the performances? Yes. I walked in so that I can like, analyze it, see what I like and what I don't. You've had a really unique career trajectory. Can you tell me about how you started skating? Yeah. So I was five years old and my dad took me and my sister Selena to the rank. And we hopped on a public session and I really liked it. I loved to fall. I loved to just go as fast as I could. It was very much, gave me a roller coaster feeling. Did you start out pushing one of those little things that kids. I wish I'm not. I did not. You did it. I kind of just jumped right into it. I was following it and sliding a lot. But that's why I liked about it. But you were able to just kind of get good. Yeah, I kind of picked it up really fast. So he put me in group lessons and then that turned into private lessons. And then I became competitive and yeah. And you remember that day. You remember that first kind of time on dice. I'd like to think I do. They could be false memories, sure. Yeah. But you got home and you liked it enough that you asked for lessons or your dad saw something out there that he was like, oh, she's actually good. Maybe you should. I have no idea. Probably makes a both. And your dad was primarily a single dad. You're the oldest of five kids all born through. I've got. Yeah, not unless I don't earn some circuits. Tell me a little bit about what it was like growing up in a family with that structure. Yeah. I mean, we didn't know about it for a long time. I actually figured it out because I didn't know. I was like, because our mom is full Chinese too. I was kind of like, oh, I totally don't look full Chinese. Like there's some up. And then I was like, and my mom's really old. Like there's no way she gave birth to me. But so like I kind of put tuna together. And yeah, I mean, it hasn't affected our family at all. We're just kind of like sure it is mostly. When you say your mom though, this is your dad's ex wife. Yeah. Yeah. So you. So he was. Was it entirely a single dad? Yeah, no. Like a. Yeah, my grandma was around her. She was before she went back to China. And my uncle, so we've had a lot of support. Your dad's background is really interesting. Can you talk about that a little bit? Yeah, no, I love my dad. And his background is so interesting. Yeah, so he was a student protest. protestor in China. And so he had to, you know, he immigrated all the way here and built his life. Like he left everything back in China to start like fresh. So he's really brave. And he breaks a lot of social norms. And yeah, and he raised us to be independent. Like we would take bar as kids all the time. Like he wasn't there a lot because he would be at work. To like, you know, we have five kids. Like that's a lot of kids to take care of. So he had to really like work in the office all day long to provide for us financially. And figure skating is expensive. So you're taking public transportation around like. Sometimes, I mean, he would drive us. My uncle would drive me to the rank and stuff like that. And then my dad would pick me up like after he's done working. And then, you know, we had after school programs too for like the triplets and my sister, Selena. So like we had it covered, but yeah. So he was involved in arranging protests around the time of like the Tiananmen Square stuff. Yeah. And then he literally had to flee. You got sort of smuggled? He got smuggled out of the chair. You know that story? Like he would tell us so much better. I would do him a disservice. But yeah, no, he got smuggled out of China. And yeah, brought to America. Yeah, it's pretty cool. And so did you all talk a lot when you were growing up about sort of thinking for yourself and democracy and ideas around. You know, the ideals that he had. Yeah, I mean, like because he's so into politics, like kind of my whole family is as well. Like the ideology of like to fight for what's right. And like speak up. And like basic human rights stuff like that. So that our family is pretty liberal. And like, yeah, I would say things to my father. And we're just like proud of his story. We're outspoken to just like he was, I would say. I mean, he was like really outspoken. A whole 'nother level. When did your life start to look really different from the average kid? Because you know, presumably you start out and you're going to lessons here and there. And it's just kind of normal. And when did it start to feel like, oh, I'm not sort of living the normal. Right, the life that a kid my age does. Yeah, I mean, first experience I went to OSA for like. Not even three months, I think. What's OSA? Oh, it's like Oakland School of Arts. It was a school. Then I became homeschooled after a couple months. And so from six grade on, through high school I was homeschooled. Did you like that or did it feel. No, I hated that. I'm ADHD too, so I do not do well learning like that. I couldn't do independent study very well. And I procrastinate a lot on my homework, stuff like that. So it was a really big struggle. Were you doing homeschool with a tutor or online? I mean, no, it was all online. All the teachers are online. You don't really interact with them. Most of your homework is like it grades automatically, right after you submit it. Yeah. Your dad was also, I mean, very invested. Once he saw that you had talent, he made sure that you had every opportunity. But did it feel overwhelming to have that pressure, you know, and that expectation on you when you're 11, 12, 13? I don't know. I genuinely don't remember if I felt pressure or not when I was like that age. So I cannot tell you. I've read that he would show up with like a radar gun to test the speed of your jumps. Right. You have no memory. I guess he did. Yeah. Wow. When you were 13, you won the women's US nationals. You're the youngest person ever, when. And I've heard you say that you don't actually have a lot of memories from that time. Yeah. I definitely, I blocked them out for sure. It kind of feels like every time I see a clip of it, it's like I'm watching a movie. Because I, I know that's me, but it's like I, I'm seeing what everyone else is seeing. It feels like a completely different person. Yeah. Why do you think that is? Probably like, because it was so bad, I just want to remember. Every day was the same for me. And I practiced was so serious. I would cry after falling on every jump. Like it was the team I had around me was so strict. So I was in fight or flight mode all the time. Wow. Yeah. I've heard you talk before about figure skating being a negative sport about the toxicity of it. Can you talk a little bit about some of the things that were going on? That looking back, you're like, that should have never happened. That's, I mean, there's a lot. I think kids staying at the rank all day is crazy. I mean, but like, you know, some parents, they can't like pick up their kids in the day, time or stuff like that. Yeah, I don't know. Training schedule is just tough. Like I didn't enjoy being at the rank like 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day. And I also skated every day. When COVID hit, that was my first day off. So I didn't realize I was so tired until I got that day off. Because I was scared that I would lose all my jumps and lose my abilities. And if I took a day off, so definitely the skating every day. Don't do that. Isn't it? But I mean, when you're an athlete, I thought you were supposed to take it in. Yeah, you're supposed to take recovery days, but my team was kind of ignorant to all of this. So got to have a good team around you. But you were literally told like you can't drink water. You can't like everything was monitored. Everything was controlled. Yes, yeah. It was crazy because like they were like, well, waterway, you shouldn't drink water. You should gargle it. Yeah, crazy. That is actually insane. Yeah, I know. It's really amazing. Oh, wow. Yeah. You've also sort of talked about being like low key traumatized by this time. Do you do you feel like that's maybe why you don't have some of the memories or? I mean, do you feel like you've blocked it? Or do you just feel like it all kind of blurred together? I mean, it's probably a mix, I'm gonna be honest, because every day was the same. It's kind of like, I don't quite, I can't recall like certain years or like stuff like that. And I also would miss like birthdays and holidays. And so I think that also kind of makes a timeline a little bit sketchy for me. Yeah, there's no like pin points. Did you ever spend one of your birthdays alone? Oh, yeah. Like, um, I, I don't know which ones, but definitely like one COVID, all those birthdays were alone. And I didn't celebrate my sillings birthdays like no holidays, because I was living like elsewhere by myself. What would you do? Nothing. Yeah. That's a sound really hard. How much of a say do you feel you had when you were a kid in terms of skating? I mean, it sounds like you were very into it earlier. When did it start feeling like it was sort of getting away from you? You know what? It never felt like that until COVID hit. But when I looked back at it, I was like, wow, I'd never made like a single decision. I was just agreeing to what everyone else was around me was saying. But 14 is when I realized like, I don't have a mind of my own. And until then you really love skating you would say or at 14, I hated skating. I started to hate it because I thought that that's where all my issues stem from. And so like at 16, I quit. Um, yeah. And then I didn't skate when you say all your issues. What are you referring to? I don't know. I will like, I was like kind of lonely. I didn't see my friends. Well, so it was COVID. So we were all away and I was training elsewhere. And yeah, a lot, a lot. What do you mean a lot? I don't know because like you're 14, you're not going to school. You're not seeing your friends. You're training like working so hard for what? And like I didn't even know what I was doing it for anymore. Um, so yeah, it was all really difficult. And like I was living alone too for a long time from like 14 to 16. Um, so yeah, it's not ideal. You're really close to your family and you were not saying them a lot of the time. Yeah. How did you pick where you were going? Is it, were you following certain coaches or certain programs that were? Yeah, supposed to be sort of the best or? Yeah, no, I didn't make where I was going. They just sent me off to certain facilities where like they thought, oh, these coaches are great. This environment will be good for you. It'll make you better skater and stuff like that. Yeah. So I just, they just sent me. I mean, I presume your dad was involved. Yeah. Well, 100%. He was definitely involved in it. And I don't know who else probably like higher ups in the federation. Don't know. It doesn't seem like you felt the pressure yourself, but it felt like other people were sort of putting their hopes and expectations on you. Right. Does that sound right to you? And how did that come out in a way that was not very healthy for you? Yeah. I guess like, because as a kid, you know, you're being told like, oh, you're a fruit tree that I planted. And I'm watering you and you're supposed to bloom into something beautiful. But and so you have to do this. You have to do it. And so like you kind of feel like it's your responsibility to the bloom as a fruit tree. I don't even know. That's an analogy I was told a lot as a kid. And so, um, yeah, I don't know. I didn't want to let anybody down, I guess. But when COVID hit, I did not care anymore. And I was really just doing it for my younger self because I knew I wanted to go to Olympics when I was like, little kid. So I was going to hold out for her and then be done. Like I didn't care what anybody else thought at that point. So you're doing school online COVID hits. You're going to practice and you're not seeing. You're not that social group that you had. You're not seeing those. Not seeing them anymore. So you're pretty isolated. I mean, you're seeing your coaches. No, you didn't even see your coaches. No. How were, what, how did that work? No, I was just like skating by myself. And they were just at their house as, you know, because it's COVID. And I, I like went to another state and stuff like that. When did you move to another state and where did you live? I was in Delaware for like a lot of COVID. Um, and then I went to, um, and yeah, it's this little like village in Italy. I trained there for a long time and then Colorado. I lived there for a long time too. And like imagine I, because I lived in the Olympic training center. And then I trained at the Broadmore facility. I was just ubering from the OTC to the rank back and forth, back and forth every day. That's it. Because I was there by myself. And so like I couldn't go anywhere either because like I had a card and know how to get there. And I didn't want to do stuff by myself because I was like 15 years old. So yeah, that was my life for a long time. So you were just all like completely alone. Yeah. And I didn't want to do it. So like that's where. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I like figure skating. It does seem like in some ways a solitary sport. You're not on a team, but that sounds really hard actually. Yeah. And how many hours a day were you skating at that point? I mean, I would just stay at the rank whole day because like there's no point to overhaul the way back. And then I over, yeah. So I would just eat lunch there and then continue training in that afternoon. Wow. Yeah. And so you started realizing this is, this is terrible. Yeah. That's when I, I mean, I hated it a year before, but that made me hate it even more, I would say. I just wanted to be with my friends at home. Was winning important to you? I mean, was there some goal in mind where you felt this is what I'm working towards? Yeah. My goal was to just do amazing programs. And the moment I finished my free skate and also the Gala program. That's when I was like, yeah, my goal is complete. This is your second Olympics. The first Olympics, what you were in Beijing, which was a COVID Olympics. Yeah. How was it different this time? Oh my God. It's so different. I mean, there's an audience this time. I don't remember ever really interacting with other athletes in Beijing. And so I got to meet speed skaters, the hockey players. And it was, it was really cool. And we did like watch parties and the team USA building like for the other sports. And just to see the competition. And it was really fun. And I got more pins this time, you know, the whole thing. But last time you were with other figure skaters, it wasn't completely, you know, yeah. There were other figure skaters, but you know, we had masks on. We couldn't really talk to each other and social distancing. You know, everyone was taking these precautions, especially because it's such a big event. If you get COVID, you're out. So everyone was super serious. That makes sense. Yeah. It's eventually you retire at age 16. So COVID happened and that's when you did get some days off. Yeah. Tell me what you were thinking the first day you wake up in however many years and you're not going to the ring. Yeah. I mean, it was great. It was so great. Like the world is my oyster type thing. And there was just so much possibility out there for me. Immediately you felt that. Yeah. Immediately. And I just. Yeah, I got right to it. So you started feeling that when COVID hit when you were 13, 14, then things open back up again. You go back into the sport. What was it that led you to finally say, no, I'm ready. I'm really ready to retire. I'm done with it. Yeah. Like one COVID hit. Like when I got my day off, I was like, I'm done, but because I was still training and stuff like that. And oh, yeah, I was training like during COVID too. They opened up a ring just for like some of the top athletes to train at. So we didn't really have too much time in the quarantine. We were quarantined in the ring, basically. I had my plan like, I'm just going to go to Olympics and then quit. And that's what I did. But I did do worlds. I did worlds because my friend Young was there. And I wanted to just do one more competition with her. But yeah, after Olympics, I was like, I'm done. Your goal had been to get to the Olympics. Yeah. Or like when I was young, I'm pretty sure my goal was something else. Like it was probably like, I want to win the Olympics or something. But at that point, I was like, I don't care. I just want to do it and get it over with. How did you brooch that subject with your dad and your coaches? I didn't tell anybody because I knew that I was going to get some pushback. So I kept this secret and then I posted about it. And then that's how everybody found out that way. I could just cut it off clean. You posted on Instagram. Yes. Yeah. I've seen that post. I mean, it's a lovely sort of send off to you know, but did people freak out? Yeah, everybody was freaking out. And a lot of people were getting mad. I mean, like you didn't even tell anybody and stuff like that. I was like, yeah, that's the point because like I knew people would try to keep me in the sport. Or drive me in some way. Right. How did your dad and your coaches respond when you posted that message? I mean, I think my coaches knew like they seen it coming. My dad, I forget. I just know he was mad. But you held strong. You were like, oh, yeah. I mean, I posted. It's official. You know, yeah, can't take it back. It's official. Right. Yeah. Sorry. Right. You were retired for two years. What do you do? I did a lot. You know, two years is such a little time. Like I got my driver's license. So I was more free. I could do like go wherever I wanted. Hang on my friends whenever to my siblings out. So that helped me feel like my own person. I went on vacation for the first time, family vacation with my best friends family. And we were just at the beach for a week. I was swimming a ton. My best friend's mom used to like live in Nepal. And so she has connections with a ton of the Sherpas. She knows them. And so the Sherpas took us to trek in the Himalayas for like a couple weeks. I was really fun. I went skiing for the first time. You went to Everest. Basecamp. You made it. Yeah. We trek to the Everest. Basecamp. Very cool. And then we took back down. It was really cool. And then like shout out Pemba. Shout out Sirun. Those are Sherpas. I went to school. I saw UCLA. I did my first year. And then I started my second. But time I started my second. I was already like coming back to skating. But I did take a, I took a whole gap year off after I quit. So I didn't do school for a year. I just hung out with my friends. That's all I did. Because you'd graduated high school at 15. They wanted you to have almost a full year to prep for the Olympics. Exactly. Yeah. Wow. So you really were able to just kind of, yeah, just live. I was so fortunate to have that year to myself. But also I only had that year because I did high school in three years. Instead of four, so I had no summers. So it was like hard work, but I did get a full year to just do whatever I wanted. I guess I could have taken a gap year even without like condensing my high school experience. Not that it really was an experience. It was all on the computer anyways. Yeah, no, I was really happy that I got to do a year of nothing. It sounds awesome. Eventually you go skiing with a friend and tell me about that trip. Yeah. It was in 2024 January. I went skiing I think in heavenly or something it might have been. And you've never been skiing. Yeah, I'd never been skiing funny because like when you're a figure skater, they say don't do it because you'll be injured. So that was my first time trying it. And I loved it so much. It's so similar. You know, you're cold, you're gliding and like you're going fast. And yeah, the adrenaline rush I felt was unlike anything else like since I had quit. Yeah, I was like, oh my god, I won't do this more often. But the mountains are kind of far like it's a day trip to get there in Tahoe. And I was like, but I need to be I like got addicted to the feeling. And the ice rink is right there. And so that week I went to the ice rink with my best friend. And I just stepped on for like an hour and it was a lot of fun. And then like a couple weeks later, I went on again for an hour and I was like, oh, this is even more fun. And then another week passes and I was just trying to go like, my goal was to go once a week, but sometimes it would be once every two weeks because that was still in school. And then when summer hit, that's when I was like, I'm going to skate like a couple times a week. And you just felt at that point like you were kind of scratching an itch. You're yes. Yeah. You're able to enjoy it again. And you're like, oh, I'm going to go do something enjoyable. Exactly. Have you ever been skiing or like, yeah, it's so fun. Right. Like if you could go a lot, you totally would. And so that's like me with skating. Yeah. So literally that first week you went skiing, you immediately sort of got back on ice. Yeah, because I was like, there's no other way I need to like find a way to kind of satisfy this like urge to go fast kind of. And I thought like the rink is right there. It'd be so convenient if I did end up liking it. But you know, it was like really traumatizing to kind of go back to the rink. I had to go with my best friend otherwise I would have never tried it again. And so I'm so glad that she came with me and it was it was fun. But yeah, it was really scary to go back. I heard her read somewhere that you had when you were retired, avoided even like driving near the street that it was on. Yeah. That's a mile. I know. The best friend who went with you is it someone who also was a, is there was a skater? Yeah. Yeah. And I've known her since I was six years old. Okay. Yeah. It wasn't some sort of random friend and you're like, let's go skating. Yeah. She knows everything. So she knew how important it was and how much of a big deal it was for me. It wasn't like you get to the rink and you're doing your thing. And she's like, oh my god. Like, she knew that you were going to be really good. I, well, I have no idea what she thought, but I had no idea either. I thought I was going to be way worse than I was. So it came back pretty quickly. The muscle memory. Yeah. Muscle memory is a crazy thing. Yeah. How long did it take you to start to feel like you were kind of back at the level you've been at before? You retired. Oh, probably, like, definitely months, probably not until like I for real started training like in June. I already knew I was better in some ways. Like my artistry, I really knew it was better because I was more in my body. Jump wise and stuff like that took a bit. But I would say like after a year, let less than a year, I was kind of back. Well, less than a year after you were back, you won the world championship. Yeah. So I would say you were definitely. Yeah. Yeah. By that point, I knew I was for sure. At what point were you, though, were you like, okay, I actually want to compete again. Summer time, like I knew for sure, for sure, I had some talks with my coaches beforehand that I want to come back because I love programs. And I wanted to get programs done. And then competition is kind of a reason to go to practice. And like, if I, and I love working out, I love pushing my body. And like, it didn't make sense that I would do that and then get like kind of nothing out of it. So I thought like competitions, the perfect excuse to just train like whenever I want, work super hard. Yeah. And tell me about calling your coach up and telling him that you wanted to come back around what month did that happen. It was, it was actually February 21st in 2024. I called him and I was like, because by that point, I had already like landed up through triple luts. And so I was really feeling skating again. Like I felt like, oh, skating is so natural again. And I was like, I just want lessons like, yeah, let's see where this takes us. And his response was, I mean, he said no. And then I had to like convince him why, but like, you know, he knew how hard it was for me before. And so he was kind of going through all the reasons like, what about this, you know, like what about this? So I had some like, I in order to come back, like I want to pick my own music because I had music ideas. I had dress ideas already that I wanted to put out into the world. Did you have to fire your dad? Like when you came back, I mean, you want to get, I didn't have to fire him. He was never there. Okay. So he was not on the team. So it was fine. What was his response when you decided to come back? I don't know. I have no idea. I mean, he was happy. But like that didn't matter to me. I didn't care that he was happy. I was almost mad that he was happy because I was like, how dare you? What do you mean? Well, I was just kind of like, you don't deserve to be happy over his decision kind of. This is not what I wanted. You were mad when I quit. So I was kind of like, he doesn't, he shouldn't have an opinion on it at all. If that makes sense, I didn't want him to be mad that I was coming back. I just didn't, I didn't want him to care like at all because it doesn't really, it shouldn't affect him as much as it did like the last time around. And some way or so, like he must have understood that you wanted that you were going to be someone who would carve your own path. Because that's, he raised me that way. Exactly. You've talked some about how having control of your career, making those decisions has been really important to your enjoyment of coming back to the sport. Is some of that just getting older though? You know, like a six year old isn't going to be picking those things. I mean, would that have sort of happened naturally or not or would, you know, are that 22 year old, who are still just kind of doing what they're told? Yeah, I mean, I have no idea for me that's not the case. And like, yeah, it is part of getting older too, I think, like as a kid, I didn't even know what I wanted. That's the thing I didn't know. And so at 14, that's when I was like, what am I doing this for? I don't even know what I want. So it kind of goes both ways. I've also heard you talk about competition and say that it just seems sort of meaningless. I know now, you know, you said it doesn't really matter. I'm not doing this to win. I'm doing this to give people an experience. Yeah. But that sounds different from what you said before. You had no emotional attachment to competing. Well, I mean, when I was like my last getting career, all the programs I didn't like, like they weren't my ideas, you know, I was putting dresses that like, also I wasn't super comfortable in and like hair and makeup, I wasn't comfortable in, you know, it wasn't me. I didn't know who I was at that point either to be fair. But yeah, I didn't like to perform because I was like kind of embarrassed. I didn't want to show my programs. I didn't want people to see the dress I was in and stuff like that. Now that I have control, like I want to show it, I am more confident. I think that's the plus in getting creative control. What embarrassed you just that it didn't feel like you or were you actually thinking, is this really crench? Yeah, literally. I was like, oh, like these colors do not look good on me. Like this ponytail is not it and stuff like that. Or like all this makeup is like, it doesn't, it makes me look like a whole new person. And you know, like parts of the choreography to I'm like, what am I doing? Yeah, I mean, it wasn't me. So I need to ask a kid, you're like more inclined to be embarrassed over stuff, especially if it's not yours. Yeah, for sure. Going back to politics for a second, with these Olympics, there was definitely some tension around the political moment we're in. Right. Yeah. Is this political moment something you thought about in terms of representing the US? Or are you more like, I'm going in, I'm doing my thing. You know, this is something that sort of outside. Yeah, I think, no, I think what us athletes can do to provide, I guess, like, because we, we are Americans. And I think the fact that all of us have such unique stories and backgrounds, that is kind of what it's all about. And we can, we get to share stories on the big stage. It's, I don't know, we had a super diverse team. And like, I was proud that I could represent who I was on the big stage. On behalf of like the Americans that could relate to me, I don't know. I think it's all about just sharing stories and having people feel for you. And like, more empathy needs to happen for sure. What are some things that you've done or some ways you've participated in American democracy? Yeah. I mean, like, also protests. I mean, I was no student protest organizer or nothing. But like, yeah, me and my family, we go to protests and my best friend. Their family is also really involved with politics. Sometimes we'll call like our policymakers. We'd write like little letters. I remember when we were kids, we would do this a lot. But yeah, mostly protest donations to like little stuff here and there. What are things that you've protested or what are things you've called your Congress person about? Yeah. What are issues that you, a lot of climate stuff. But mostly like election things, Black Lives Matter, like stop Asian hate, ice protests, and yeah, a ton of stuff. You're at UCLA. You're majoring in psychology still? Yeah, right now I'm taking a break from school. Not majoring anything, but yeah, psychology. You picked that because you thought that the experience that you had in figure skating had sort of given you a lot of empathy. And that would be a good thing to study. Yeah, I mean, I was always into psychology kind of. I took a few classes in high school. But I was mostly interested in like, why do I think the way I do? And how can I become like a better person? And I don't know, like, how can I change my mindset and be more positive about things? And how do I make my life positive in general? So I wanted not even positive, like because honestly in life, I also love sadness, I love anger. Like I love to feel all of that. I don't think the pinnacle of like life's goals, happiness actually. I guess just more peaceful thinking maybe. But yeah, that's why I chose psychology. You have also talked a lot about mental health and seen someone who really advocates for that in a way that I find inspiring. Like a lot of people do. Have you ever seen a sports psychologist and a student? Yeah. Was that a helpful experience? Yeah, no, definitely was. I have a sports psychologist. Her name is Caroline. She's great. Like she's incredible. And I love, I learn a lot from her. And because I'm a psych major, you know, I ask her a ton of questions about psychology and she teaches me a lot of things. I feel like watching you skate. It's like you're more relaxed than I am, like, buying groceries. It's like amazing. How do you get there? How do you, I mean, trial and error. I got there through trial and error. Generally, if I didn't hit like rock bottom so many times, I could not have gone up. So that's why I say like I wouldn't tell my younger self a thing. Like I want her to go through all that because that's the only reason why I'm here. I wouldn't change a thing about my past. What else in pop culture is interesting to you right now? Like what are you listening to? What are you reading? What are you watching? This week, a lot of pink panthers, of course. Molly Santana. Levy to. Who else? Levy, yeah, a lot of Levy this week. Oh, Don Talver. He had a new album. So I've been listening to that quite a bit. That's next. What are the next few months hold for you? Oh, so well, I've really wanted to do worlds because I want to see the skaters again. It's a big competition, so it'll be fun. And a lot of them are going to be retiring. So I want to see them one last time, you know, last hurrah. And then we have it show tours, like immediately after, for months, from. We have Japan tours starting in April. And then we have US tours starting later after weeks after. And it goes until like beginning of June. I love this blade-and-roll dynamic. Me too. You and Amber Kvin and Isabella Vido. Will they also be doing these tours with you? Are you going to be reunited? Yeah. We will be. And I'll hopefully see them out worlds too. But yeah, we're going to be on tour together for months. I'm really excited. Is that. what's that vibe like to be? I mean, like you're competing against each other, but you're also really good friends. Tell me a little bit about how you're going to get that. I mean, we're all independent artists and athletes. And we're just showing the people what we're capable of. And what we have to offer on the same ice together. And it's. it's really beautiful to me. And I really get along with them, like on and off ice. We just have really great chemistry, so that helps. Do you have text chains going on at times? Yeah, we do. Have they texted you this morning? Oh, yeah. I think we've text. like there's been texts in that group chat today. That's awesome. Well, yle we're all amazing. Melissa, thank you so much for being here today. It is truly a delight to see someone who delights in what they do so much. Do it. And I think, you know, I will speak for myself that it's also. it's great to have something that happened that made me really excited to be an American. But thank you so much for being here. Thank you for sharing this time with us. And again, congratulations. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Let me talk. Thank you for tuning in to the Rolling Stone interview podcast. And thank you to Alyssa Liyov for talking with us. 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