Photo credit: John Ulan
When the 2014 Winter Olympics kick off Feb. 7 in Sochi, Jodi Abbott, '93 MEd, '96 PhD, will be one of the elite cadre of judges watching figure skaters compete for glory.
Abbott spent her childhood on the ice in Edson, Alta., where figure skating became an integral part of her life. During her teenage years, her mother encouraged her to volunteer as a figure-skating judge - it was a way to give back and acknowledge the volunteer support Abbott had received as an athlete. She began training as a judge at 16 and worked up to accreditation as an International Skating Union judge. She eventually qualified to judge at the most elite levels of figure-skating competitions, including the Olympics.
While it might sound like a stretch, Abbott's experiences in figure skating have served her well in her career in education and health. She is president and CEO of NorQuest College.
"In skating, all the technical elements get a score on their own. You look at every piece and assess it against a standard - you do it really quickly," she explains. "But when you get to the program component scores, you're actually looking at the whole picture. You've had all of these elements happen, but you're looking at how they all connect together to create the overall program."
"For me, the passion is about how you take the lessons you get from a sport and apply it to life."
That, Abbott says, is exactly what she does in her work role.
"As a leader, I have to look at every area of my organization and how it's operating, but I also have to always be aware of the big picture. Right now, a lot is changing in post-secondary. I have to know where NorQuest College fits in that. But we also have to have the bigger picture and ask where it's going."
In her position as a figure-skating judge, she gets the chance to see and appreciate the lessons of sport. She sees athletes who, like she did, will learn and grow from their experiences in figure skating.
"It's fascinating to see the little, little ones skate, and to know that in the thousand little ones, you're going to have a champion there," Abbott says. "How can you create the right environment for them to grow as an athlete, to learn about being competitive but be human?"
For Abbott, that appreciation of humanness - how people give to the sport and the sport gives back to them - is always relevant.
"For me, the passion is about how you take the lessons you get from a sport and apply it to life."
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