Delivering a golden message

Olympic gold medalist Katie Weatherston visited Riverside Educational Centre (REC) on Jan.18, reminding the students to set their goals high and never give up.
“I picked these two things to talk about because they were the most important in my success,” said Weatherston to a packed gymnasium full of students. “Hopefully they’ll help you become successful in whatever you guys want to do.”
The 2006 women’s hockey gold medalist has shared her personal stories of overcoming obstacles and keeping her sights set on her goal of making it to the Olympics to schools all across Canada. Her stop at REC was her first visit on her tour speaking at schools in the Maritimes.
Weatherston drew a lot of comparisons to her life in hockey to life in school for the students. She promoted the effectiveness of having short-term goals to reach the long-term goals for each student.
“Short-term goals really equal success,” said Weatherston. “If you can achieve all your short-term goals on that ladder, or that staircase, eventually you’ll get to your big dream.”
The model for goals that Weatherson uses is SMART goals, which is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely goals. She then asked some of the students what they wanted to do in the long-term and helped one student with some short-term goals to help her become a veterinarian.
She also stressed the importance of adhering to rules and expectations to reach short-term goals, whether the rules come from a teacher or you’ve decided to be more self-disciplined. She mentioned how strict her practices were for making Team Canada, and how she had to be focused and determined to get to the top.
Respect for others was another point that Weatherston made clear to the students.
“It’s important to be good people,” she said. “Consider your actions and how it impacts other people.”
The town of Enfield caught Weatherston’s attention because she noticed that respect, integrity, and other Virtues were labelled on the streets. She felt this was important in fostering the growth of young people into responsible, respectful adults.
In the second part of her presentation, Weatherston talked about the importance of overcoming adversity and obstacles to reach those goals. As a hockey player, she wasn’t very big and was told she might not be able to make it far. However, what she lacked in size she made up for in heart and work ethic, which is an important trait to be successful for Weatherston.
Staying confident was another key skill to remember when facing adversity. Weatherston talked about how she was cut from her first attempts at the Team Canada training camp for her lack of confidence and play.
“That showed me that I had to bring my game up to a whole other work ethic,” said Weatherson. “Watching someone like Hayley Wickenheiser on the ice and off the ice showed me that.”
Weatherston also shared her experiences of overcoming lower body and head injuries to continue playing the sport she loves, until a severe concussion forced her to step away from the game. However, she hasn’t let that stop her as she has pursued her Grade 3 dream of becoming a teacher, and now works as a real estate agent in Ottawa.
At the end of her presentation, she let the students come up to view her Olympic medals and a replica Olympic torch she used in her hometown of Thunder Bay.
“If you can work through obstacles in a positive manner you will definitely be successful,” said Weatherston.
timvanderkooi@enfieldweeklypress.com