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<\/a>While Serafini was waiting to hear back from schools, the 2018 Winter Olympic Games were taking place in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The day after the pairs\u2019 free skate, Serafini said she received a call to do a pairs\u2019 tryout.<\/p>\n\u201cIt was the most coincidental thing ever,\u201d she explained. \u201cI had no idea, like I didn’t tell anybody I wanted to do pairs, nothing. Long story short, I was like, ‘You know, what? I have nothing to do right now but try because I’m waiting to hear back from colleges,’ and I decided I was going to do a tryout, and I kind of wanted to see if I liked it, and I really liked it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Serafini teamed up with Mervin Tran, who had won a World bronze medal and a U.S. silver medal with his previous partners. Then as luck would have it, just a couple days after the start of their new partnership, Serafini learned she had been accepted to New York University (NYU). She chose to defer her education for a few years to skate with Tran.<\/p>\n
The new team debuted at the 2019 U.S. Championships and made their international debut that fall at Finlandia Trophy, where they finished fifth. They also finished seventh at Golden Spin of Zagreb. That fall, they also won the U.S. Pairs Final to qualify for their second U.S. Championships, where they finished seventh.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe competitions that Mervin and I did internationally, I find all of them to be highlights of our pairs\u2019 career because to me it felt so cool to be able to actually travel internationally and represent Team USA,\u201d Serafini said, reflecting on her pairs\u2019 career.<\/p>\n
The two did compete at the 2020 Skate America, where because of the COVID-19 pandemic the competitors consisted only of U.S. skaters or those who trained in the United States. Serafini and Tran finished sixth at that event, and then sixth at the U.S. Championships, which was their final event together.<\/p>\n
Embracing collegiate skating<\/h3>\n
When Serafini and Tran moved back to the east coast for training during their partnership, Serafini was able to start her college education while still training. She started NYU in January 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was only there (at NYU) about a month and then COVID hit, and everything transitioned to online, which was sort of a blessing in disguise for my personal career and college degree because NYU didn\u2019t offer pretty much any online courses and so COVID kind of forced them to do so,\u201d Serafini explained. \u201cSo even when things started to open back up, they still offered some classes online and that helped me to be able to continue my college degree while still training.\u201d<\/p>\n
Upon the conclusion of her pairs\u2019 career with Tran, Serafini focused solely on her studies at NYU. While Serafini said it was a difficult decision to step away from competitive skating, she didn\u2019t stop skating cold turkey. She embraced collegiate skating, competing with the NYU Figure Skating team.<\/p>\n
\u201cCollegiate skating is such a beautiful and wonderful thing to have, and I’m so glad that it’s grown as large as it has over the past few years. I’m so fortunate to have the NYU figure skating team be a part of my skating journey, because it was the best thing for me as I transitioned out of competitive sport,\u201d Serafini expressed.<\/p>\n
Beginning her career as a dietitian<\/h3>\n
Serafini graduated from NYU in December 2022, earning a bachelor\u2019s degree in nutrition and dietetics. After graduating, Serafini needed to do 1,000 hours out in the field before she could sit for her dietetic exam. She did a full-year internship at different rotations from clinical settings, community service and food service. Knowing that she wanted to be a dietitian in a sports setting, her internship program connected her with the Cleveland Guardians baseball team. Serafini completed the last rotation of her internship in Arizona with the Cleveland Guardians.<\/p>\n \u201cI really owe it to Miguel, the dietitian there, because he was an incredible mentor, and I didn’t know what sport I wanted to go into after I graduated, and I really enjoyed my time there (with the Guardians), and I was like, ‘I think I kind of like baseball, I think I could do this.’\u201d<\/p>\n Serafini sat for her exam in the fall of 2023. Her first job as a dietitian was with the Houston Astros, where she worked for them for a full season with their Single-A minor league team, the Fayetteville Woodpeckers, based in Fayetteville, North Carolina.<\/p>\n Following working for Major League Baseball\u2019s Fall League in Arizona, Serafini got the job with the New York Yankees<\/a> in the fall of 2024.<\/p>\n As a sports dietitian, Serafini says her job can vary from day- to=day, but her main responsibilities include catering food for the players\u2019 pre-game and post-game meals.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m always on the phone with restaurants, with catering companies, planning out venues, and then we also do menu planning at our facilities here, where we have our chefs,\u201d she explained of some of her duties. Also part of Serafini’s responsibilities is meeting with the players. While she does have some scheduled meetings with them for meal planning, she is also checking in with them during their meal time. Serafini also does make smoothies on a daily basis.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I should add on my resume, part-time smoothie maker,\u201d she laughed.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThat is one way that the guys get a lot of their calories in. So, smoothies are a big part of my day.\u201d<\/p>\n Since Tampa is where all of the Yankees\u2019 players are based during spring training, Serafini has had the opportunity to meet some of the major league players.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really cool. It\u2019s amazing to see them on TV and then in person, and it’s one of those situations where you realize, they are all the same as you and me,\u201d she said. \u201cI know they’re making a lot more money than I am, and they have a lot more name, but every player that I’ve had the privilege of meeting with the Yankees has been nothing but kind, and doesn’t treat the minor league staff any differently than they would their major league staff, and so we’re here to support them as well.\u201d<\/p>\n For Serafini, working in baseball doesn\u2019t feel all that different to what life was like as a competitive figure skater.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s Groundhog\u2019s Day every day for them, they rinse and repeat. They get to the field, they do their warm-ups, they have lift days.\u00a0 <\/span>It’s the same kind of routine that you would have for skating when you get to the rink. You do your warm-up routine and get on the ice. So it’s very similar in the sense that most of your day-to-day is the same thing, so when I think about it in the lens of a figure skater and what I went through, I can relate to the grind,” she explained.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nWorking with the Yankees<\/h3>\n
<\/a>Serafini, who is based in Tampa, works with the Yankees\u2019 Single-A minor league team, the Tampa Tarpons<\/a>, as well as the organizations\u2019 rookie teams in Tampa and the Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nThe similarities between skating and baseball<\/h3>\n