Skating, studies, and strings: Double major balances it all

Junior Louisa Warwin skates through life accomplishing all things from playing her violin to being a participant in the Norwegian Junior Nationals Figure Skating competition, all while being a dedicated double major right here at Vanguard University.

Warwin, a history and political science and biology double major, has auditioned this year for the Norway’s National Figure Skating Team. Journeying across the world, Warwin made the decision to attend Vanguard University because of the strong religious affiliation, tight-knit student body, and kind faculty members.

“Vanguard University of Southern California appealed to me because it values Christ and the school has an amazing faculty. The teachers are excellent and everyone here has been so helpful,” Warwin said.

Warwin is determined to reach her goals and succeed as a student. Most of all, Warwin appreciates how figure skating, although demanding, has shaped her into the person she is today.

“Figure skating allows me to be free and express myself through art,” Warwin said.

Warwin has attended the Norwegian Junior Nationals twice and eventually hopes to qualify for the 2022 Olympics in figure skating. She has competed in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the Desert Ice Competition in 2018 and in Vacaville, California, for the 2019 Regional Figure Skating Competition.

This has been a fifteen-year journey, starting when she began figure skating in the outside skating rink in her hometown of Oslo, Norway at 6 years old. Her first figure skating competition was in a nearby small town of Asker. She is inspired by French figure skater Surya Bonaly, whose accomplishments include a three-time World Silver medalist and five-time European champion.

While Warwin enjoys participating in both college academics and her figure skating career, it took her time to learn how to balance both schoolwork and figure skating practice.

“I set aside a certain amount of hours each week just for studying and homework. Each semester I usually talk to my coaches and try to schedule my classes so that I can make everything work,” Warwin explained.

Even with relocating from Norway to California, her travels don’t stop there. In comparison to the hometown rink in Oslo, Norway, Warwin now makes the commute to three rinks in Southern California to practice, varying from all the way to Torrance, California to as close as Lakewood, California.

In addition to her sport, Warwin enjoys playing contemporary music on her violin and uploading her covers onto SoundCloud. She hopes to continue learning new pieces of music and find a deeper understanding into her instrument. She especially loves to perform songs with her sister.

Though her sights are currently set on figure skating and the Olympics, in the future, Warwin hopes to use her double major to become a doctor. Stemming from her own heart surgery as a child, she hopes to use medicine to help others. As for her history and political science major, she soon saw there was so much more to becoming a doctor than she realized.

“As I started studying and I moved to the United States, I became intrigued with the effects of government and how it affects the health care system,” she said. “The importance of history and politics are essential in order to create a better future and understanding of how to better the health care system.”

With this knowledge, she one day hopes to open her own clinic and be able to use the skills she learned at Vanguard to understand the policies and procedures she needs to succeed. Until that day, she plans to focus on her figure skating and studies, as well as cling to her favorite verse “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength,” Philippians 4:13.