Ice Is a Girl's Best Friend

Catching up with Julie Chu ’06 is no easy task. This 19-year-old is headed to the Olympics this month and to Harvard next year. She keeps in touch with family and friends like the average soon-to-be college student—with cell phones and e-mail—but it gets difficult with the static and raucous background noise on the bus of the U.S. women’s ice hockey team.

FM chatted with Chu en route from Steamboat Springs, Colo., to her home for the next few weeks, the Olympic park in Salt Lake City, Utah. There, alongside veteran hockey teammate Angela Ruggiero ’02-’04, she will compete for Olympic gold.

Her presence on the team is exciting to more than just hockey fans. Chu will be the first Asian-American to play ice hockey on the U.S. women’s team.

While the Olympics are foremost in Chu’s mind right now, she is psyched about next fall as well. “I’m looking forward to the experience of different cultures coming together again,” she says, “like at [Chu’s Connecticut prep school] Choate, but with more freedom. It’s a whole other world.” But before she enters this other world, Chu is immersed in the fast-paced, icy world of elite amateur athletics.

When Chu’s family members (including her hockey-crazed grandmother) travel to Utah, they will bring more than posters and pompoms to cheer her on. The Chus all now sport tattoos, a permanent emblem of their enthusiasm and support. “They got the Olympic rings in color, and the number 13, which is my number,” Chu says.

This unassuming young star was recently spotlighted in People and other publications and is sure to get a push on NBC’s personality-driven TV coverage. Despite all the individualized hype, Chu says her favorite part of the Olympic experience so far has been playing against Canada in a game that cemented her team’s spot as gold medal favorites. “We’ve played them eight times this year and there’s an intensity that’s kind of an extra drive because of the rivalry,” she says.

Chu pauses as she notices a police car following beside the team bus. “I think we might be getting pulled over,” she says, “unless...oh, it’s a police escort.” For this prefrosh, who hopes to be on the Wheaties box one day and will don a good luck shin guard strap she’s had since childhood during the Olympics, it’s all about enjoying her 15 minutes of fame.