The skater’s edge: Evan Bender

“Once you’re on the ice … it’s the buildup that gets to you,” said Evan Bender, who is currently competing at the national level for figure skating. A normal day in this third-year psychobiology student’s life consists of 8 a.m. classes, followed by four to five hours of ice practice, then afternoon classes, work and homework. Watch him recount his journey from his humble beginnings as a 9-year-old novice skater to his current year at UCLA and all the axles in between.