![\"At](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2023\/03\/Cole-full.jpg?resize=993%2C470&ssl=1\")
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Catherine Cole has a lot of synchronization in her life.<\/span><\/p>\n She\u2019s in harmony as a Civil Engineering senior at University of Detroit Mercy, following in her parents\u2019 footsteps to study engineering on the McNichols Campus.<\/span><\/p>\n Cole also is in step on the ice as part of the Crystallettes synchronized skating team, perfecting her skating in tune with 11 teammates when not taking classes, studying or working in the engineering field.<\/span><\/p>\n Just recently, during her final semester as a student at Detroit Mercy, Cole and her teammates took their cohesive skating to a global stage.<\/span><\/p>\n Cole and the Crystallettes, a team based out of Dearborn, Mich., represented the United States competing as part of an Elite-12 synchronized skating exhibition Jan. 16-22 and Jan. 30-Feb. 5, in France and Austria in the French and Mozart Cups, respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n For Cole, who has been on the ice in some capacity since she was 3 years old and has dedicated years of time and work to skating, it was a special experience.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTaking the ice and representing the United States of America, it was very honorable,\u201d Cole said. \u201cIt goes to show that all of the hard work that we put in, was all worth it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n It was a trail-blazing showcase as well, with Cole and the Crystallettes among the first Elite-12 teams in the world to compete with 12 competitors in synchronized skating. The Crystallettes have 16 women on the team and are just one of two Elite 12 teams in the U.S., the other the Haydenettes in Boston.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s all leading up to an ultimate goal: Getting synchronized skating in the Olympics.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNormally we have 16 girls on the ice and this year we have 12,\u201d Cole said. \u201cSynchronized skating isn\u2019t currently in the Olympics, the Elite-12 is that next step. We\u2019re judged more intensely, our routines are tighter, and our elements are a little bit harder.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Representing the red, white and blue was a culmination of four years of hard work, both at the University and on the ice.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDuring my freshman year of college, I decided that I wanted to take a little step back from skating because of how competitive skating and the engineering field are,\u201d she said. \u201cOnce I got my bearings back of adjusting to the rigorous system of engineering, class load and everything, during the middle of my junior year, I was able to get back into skating.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The hard work on the ice goes far beyond her time at the University. Cole, who started synchronized skating at 11 years old, played hockey at an early age before moving to figure skating. The ice rink\u2019s been a second home for the Cole family.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy Dad plays hockey, I have three younger brothers and they all play hockey,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely something that I don\u2019t think I could live without. I loved it and still love it. It\u2019s always been a part of my life.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no offseason for skating,\u201d she added. \u201cIt\u2019s usually in the winter, but summertime is always conditioning time, so there\u2019s never really time off. I skated very intensively, especially through middle and high school. I think it\u2019s the most intensive-type training I\u2019ve ever done.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Like with skating, Cole has been in sync with engineering her entire life. Her parents \u2014 Trevor ’99 and Kimberly (Kuderik) Cole ’96, ’03 \u2014 met at the University while pursuing engineering degrees.<\/span><\/p>\n However, unlike her parents, who are mechanical engineers, Cole chose a different engineering pathway.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t want to steer away from engineering just because I see what my parents do,\u201d she said. \u201cThey both work in the automotive field and that\u2019s not what I want to do.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut I love math and science, I love to tinker with things, so I shadowed a bunch of different civil engineering companies, electrical, mechanical. But through my shadowing experience and talking with different people, I figured civil (engineering) might suit me best.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Cole\u2019s always felt at home at the University and that helped when it was time to pick a college after graduating from Gabriel Richard Catholic High School, south of Detroit.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBoth of my parents went to Detroit Mercy, so I felt that I kind of needed to carry on the legacy. But I also liked how small the class sizes were and how everything seemed like a community at the University, even when I visited as a high school student, it had a sense of community,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s why I chose Detroit Mercy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n And Detroit Mercy has given her the opportunity to flourish, athletically and professionally.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy professors, they\u2019ve all been super supportive and I\u2019m really grateful for that,\u201d said Cole, who practices with the team at least four days each week. \u201cDr. Dutta, Dr. Hoback and Dr. Rihana-Abdallah, they\u2019ve allowed me to send my homework, since I\u2019m not going to every lecture, to show them that I\u2019m keeping pace with everything.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very grateful for their flexibility and their consideration towards my schedule.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Alan Hoback, professor of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at Detroit Mercy, has seen first-hand the dedication Cole has put into skating while taking her engineering courses and workload seriously.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s committed, getting up at 4 a.m. for practice,\u201d Hoback said. \u201cShe was gone twice, each for a week and both times, she got her work done for my classes in advance. It\u2019s straining, but she\u2019s keeping up.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s on a team of students in the capstone course with friends that she made here. When she\u2019s on-campus, I always see them together. She\u2019s interested in environmental engineering and working on a team project to clean up a contaminated site.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Her co-op experience, a vital part of any College of Engineering & Science undergraduate student\u2019s career, has also proved to be pivotal.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was fortunate to get a co-op my freshman year and I\u2019ve been with them ever since, I work for Wade Trim currently,\u201d Cole said. \u201cThey hit all of the bases with civil engineering, and I\u2019ve found with the mix of interning, that I really like the construction, environmental and water aspects.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Both engineering and skating have been anchors in Cole\u2019s life and that doesn\u2019t look like it\u2019s changing anytime soon.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI plan on skating next year in the same intensity that I do now,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019ll be another shift, instead of going to school, I\u2019m going to work. My employers are super supportive of my skating and I think they\u2019ll allow me to still continue, to have that work-life balance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In the top left photo, Cole is on the far right, sitting next to three other synchronized skating teammates. In the photo to the right, Cole is on the left sitting next to a classmate inside of the College of Engineering & Science Building’s high bay.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2014\u00a0By\u00a0Adam Bouton<\/a>. Follow Detroit Mercy on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>. Have a story idea? Let us know by\u00a0submitting your idea<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In addition to studying engineering at the University like her parents, Catherine Cole competes at a high level in synchronized skating, which has recently included competitions across the globe during her final semester of college.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":224,"featured_media":13508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[6,4404],"tags":[5876,5147,5964,2723,972,188,2577,186,946,3775],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2023\/03\/Cole-full.jpg?fit=1900%2C900&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbwnTV-3vR","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13507"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/224"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13509,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13507\/revisions\/13509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}