CECI HEINEN: Hello, everyone. This is Ceci Heinen with the Minnesota Daily, and you are listening to In the Know, a podcast dedicated to the University of Minnesota. Today I’m in the studio with Wren Warne-Jacobson, the opinions desk editor.

And we’re just gonna chat about her time here at the Daily and her double life as an elite athlete. So, let’s just jump right into it. Hi Wren, how are you doing today? 

WREN WARNE-JACOBSEN: I’m great. How are you?

HEINEN: I’m good. I’m excited to have you here, but kind of going first into your Minnesota Daily life, how long have you been here and when did you get started?

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Yeah, I started as a columnist last fall, so that would’ve been fall of 2024. And I remained a columnist all last school year. And then I started as the opinions editor just for this last summer.

So I’ve been here, I guess, almost a year now. And it’s really fun. I remember when I started, we were going into election season, so I was. Very excited to be on the opinions desk for that, and it was definitely an eventful time. 

HEINEN: Yeah, for sure. 

WARNE-JACOBSEN: But yeah, I really have loved my time here so far.

HEINEN: Awesome. And what year are you in school and what’s your major right now?

WARNE-JACOBSEN: I’m going into my senior year, which is crazy to believe. I’m a journalism major and a political science minor as well.

HEINEN: Awesome. And then why, when you applied to the Daily, and as you continue, why did you choose opinions over the other desks?

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Yeah, a couple things went into that decision. One, just logistics. I knew that the setup of the desk and the things that would be expected of me would fit really well with my skating schedule, and I’d be able to bring everything that was needed to the position. 

But also, I’ve really just always loved expressing my opinions through writing and trying to analyze things in a way that gives a perspective and opinions that gives the freedom to do that. So I, I really have enjoyed how I’ve been able to apply my skills that I’ve learned in the journalism major. 

But then also, kind of incorporate some of the perspectives I’ve learned in political science and just kind of grow my own perspectives. It’s been kind of an interesting self  exploration process too, to kind of see how I process things, how I try and figure out all the complicated things that we’re dealing with right now in this time.

HEINEN: And like translate them onto the page. 

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Yeah. Yeah. Completely. So, I think it’s been a really good fit.

HEINEN: Mm-hmm. And in your time here, I’m sure you’ve written a lot of stories. Which story did you enjoy writing the most? 

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Yeah, that’s a good question. One of my personal columns that stands out that I really had fun with, I did a politics and dating column back in the spring semester. Right around Valentine’s Day, I got to talk to a lot of students, mostly Gen Z students, about how they viewed politics in their romantic lives.

And I found that a lot of people were in agreement that they really didn’t date across the aisle. And I found that really interesting given the context of our political system and the polarization that we see. So that, that was a really fun one. I kind of got to have a little bit of fun writing with it too. It’s not an in-depth topic, but not, not as serious of a piece.

HEINEN: Yeah, for sure.

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Kind of along that same line, I did a satire piece later in the semester written from the perspective of a penguin journalist. That was kind of way outta what I normally write about. 

HEINEN: What brought that about? 

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Honestly, I kind of wanted to do something fun, and it was right around the announced announcement of Trump’s tariffs.

HEINEN: Oh, right.

WARNE-JACOBSEN: And, and penguins were included in the tariffs of remote islands that were inhabited by penguins. I didn’t really know how to go  about it at first, but yeah, I landed on, this was a, a penguin news station writing about the penguin tariffs.

HEINEN: This is just a question that I just thought of right now, but I’m just wondering do you feel like your brain just always is having ideas or have you ever had times where you felt really blocked and you’re like, I have no idea what I even have an opinion about. I have no idea what I wanna write about. 

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Yeah, it really comes and goes. Actually, when I applied to the position, at first I was a little intimidated because I really wasn’t sure how I was gonna keep coming up with opinions. It felt like, well, I’m learning so much in college, but I’m constantly realizing how much I don’t know and like, how can I really have an opinion on anything when there’s so much I don’t yet understand.

But then I, I applied anyway, and as I started kind of having that exercise to come up with opinions it became easier and easier. And now I can look at things and form an opinion pretty quickly and then do other research and stuff. 

There are definitely moments, especially when the semester gets busy where it’s just, what do I write about now? And then, you know, it’s also a challenge, I think, for the opinions desk. Because a lot of us are inspired by political commentary. I know a couple of us on the desk at least. And we really wanna focus on all these really big issues.

HEINEN: Yeah.

WARNE-JACOBSEN: But then it’s just, you’ve gotta exercise yourself to focus it down on our community and then see how that all connects.

HEINEN: Last question, kind of about your Minnesota Daily stuff. What are your professional goals after the Daily? Where do you want to see yourself in, I don’t know, five years, three years?

WARNE-JACOBSEN: That’s a good question. Yeah I think I’ve really grown my passion for journalism through the Daily, so that’s something I’ve, I’m really happy I’ve had this opportunity and I definitely want to continue that.

Honestly, I’m not sure exactly where I’ll be. Especially, it really depends on where I go with my figure skating too, but I definitely wanna keep my journalism career going. I would love to work in political reporting or even in just further opinion writing and commentary. Regardless of how that works, I definitely wanna continue to further my career.

HEINEN: Yeah, for sure. Then you just mentioned it, but you are a figure skater. 

WARNE-JACOBSEN: I am. 

HEINEN: It’s a big part of your life. So kind of going back, when did you start figure skating and why?

WARNE-JACOBSEN: I started when I was five years old.

HEINEN: Wow. 

WARNE-JACOBSEN: So, yes. Way back. My mother was a figure skater when she was a child, so that definitely has played a part in my skating career and starting to skate. But I actually started when I was gonna go to a skating party for my school in kindergarten and the skating party was gonna be down in the Twin Cities, I at the time lived up north in Bemidji, Minnesota. 

And my mom brought me to the rink just to try it out skating before I went to the party. And in classic Minnesota fashion, the party was canceled because there was an ice storm. We could not go. 

HEINEN: Oh my gosh. That’s crazy.

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Yeah. But, I still continued to go to the local rink in Bemidji over all of winter break, and I really enjoyed it. And soon after that I started classes and then just kind of grew from there. And then it pretty quickly turned into a very serious thing I was pursuing.

HEINEN: Yeah. And can you kind of give, like a career recap, I guess, and then where you’re at now?

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Yeah, so as I mentioned, I started in Bemidji, Minnesota, and I started competing there a little bit at the basic skills level. And then pretty soon I started commuting to St. Paul, Minnesota to train at a more advanced training center. So from then on, I was really kind of on the competitive track. 

I won my first Minnesota State title when I was eight at the pre-preliminary level. I’ve been able to win a total of nine titles now, and so hopefully going for a 10th one this year.

HEINEN: Awesome. 

WARNE-JACOBSEN: We’ll see. But yeah, I’ve had a really successful career in Minnesota and in the Midwest, and I was able to make it onto the national scene. Back in 2016 when I was at the intermediate level, and then again as a junior a couple years later. 

And then I’ve had two years, both 2022 and 2024, where I’ve gotten to compete at the U.S. championships at the senior women’s level. And those have been really the most advanced high level competitions I’ve been at so far. Both times it’s an amazing experience with some of the best skaters in the U.S., in the world, and the energy there and the talent there is just amazing. 

HEINEN: Wow. 

WARNE-JACOBSEN: But then another big highlight more recently is my collegiate skating. Since I started at the U I’ve been able to participate in the U.S. Collegiate Championships the last three summers. I was able to win the bronze medal for the University of Minnesota in 2022, going into my freshman year.

And then I was able to take home the championships the following year and then last year as well. And, I’ll be going to the competition next month to hopefully defend my title. But regardless of placement and results and everything, my time in collegiate skating has been a really eye-opening experience, and the community’s just so supportive.

It’s quite different from the regular competitive track I’ve been on. It’s totally different vibe. People are just there because they love skating. And that’s been really fun. So, that’s kind of where I’m at now. I’m hoping to qualify back to the US championships in 2026. That’ll be kind of like the Olympic qualifiers for figure skating. 

HEINEN: For people who don’t follow figure skating, is the jump from collegiate level, like where you’re at to Olympic level, pretty extreme, or do you think you have the potential to qualify for the Olympics?

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Yeah, it really depends on where you look, in the collegiate level. The intercollegiate series is really about people who are in college and just want to keep skating part of their lives. The goals that people have out of it are quite different from those who are in the competitive track that I’m in. And so that’s really a completely different scale. It’s a completely different side of figure skating. 

The US Collegiate Championships that I participate in in the summer is more of the high level competitive people who are in college. But it’s a national championship event for individual skaters rather than teams. So I’m representing the University of Minnesota, but I’m competing individually. And so that has drawn a lot more high level skaters in the last couple years since I’ve been in it. The difficulty levels really increased. 

The national championships, which will take place in January that I’m trying to qualify for. That is really the top of the top level in the U.S., and that is quite different from the collegiate level. Obviously there’s a little bit of crossover, right? I’ve been able to win the U.S. Collegiate Championships the last two years in a row, but for qualifying to the U.S. championships, kind of, my goal is to qualify and then do as well as I can. 

But at this point in my career, I’m not necessarily in contention for the podium. That’s definitely something I’m working to achieve. And I would love to compete more internationally. And get up to that top level in the U.S. But yeah, that’s just further on in my journey.

HEINEN: Mm-hmm. Have the Olympics always been a dream for you?

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Yeah, honestly, when I was, when I was young, that was kind of like the shining star of my skating career is like, “Oh, I’m gonna go to the Olympics to be Olympic champion.” And you know, then I, you know, continue and I guess skating gets hard. 

HEINEN: Mm-hmm.

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Right? So it’s definitely been something I’ve had to face is like, why do I keep skating? What do I really want out of the sport? And yes, I would still like to have as much competitive success as I can if that’s just winning another collegiate title, or just skating my best, or that’s winning a national title at the US championships, if that’s going on to the Olympics, that’s great. I would love for that to happen. But where I’m at now, I really just want to try and keep in connection with why I wanna skate and what I, what fulfillment I get out of it.

HEINEN: Yeah, for sure. I think that’s super important for competitive sports. Remembering that you actually love this and that you wanna be doing it every day even when it gets hard. I was wondering, I’ve competed in basketball before, which is completely a team sport, so you have a lot of people to fall back on, but what’s it like competing in a sport that’s pretty much entirely singular? Like everything relies on you. How do you handle that pressure?

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Yeah, it can get, honestly, it can get lonely at times. I’m always part of a team at my training center, but we’re all on our own journey. You know, there can be tension, there can be conflict, we compete against each other. I remember growing up a lot, it was, I had to kind of realize, well I’m, I don’t really have anybody my own age.

This person’s moving up to my same level and now we’re gonna be competitors and we are friends now, that’s kind of weird. So you really do have to kind of, even more so, be in connection with why you wanna skate and build the support system around you as much as possible because it’s not just automatically there.

Like, you don’t automatically have a team. So that really becomes something that I’ve had to cultivate myself and honestly, I still work at every day. And having things at school and being part of the Daily has really actually been a big part of that. Having a community outside of skating because it is so individual and such a small community.

There’s, there’s not that many people when you think about it. You can kind of get lucky if you have really close friends in skating, but it’s really not a given and it can be hard to find. 

HEINEN: Then how do you, balance your, I mean, you’re a student, you’re a figure skater, you’re the opinion desk editor. Like how do you balance all of that and have you experienced periods of burnout?

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Yeah, absolutely. It is a difficult balance for sure, and I’ve really had to figure out where my limits are. I’ve definitely signed myself up for maybe one too many things here and there. But I try to remind myself that all the things that I’m doing are things I wanted to be doing for a long time.

That does help when things are really busy and it’s really hectic. I just kinda have to remember, you know, I’m lucky enough to follow multiple passions at the same time. You know, I have a lot of people around me and a lot of resources that helped me do that. You know, I would not necessarily be able to do this.

So I do get burnt out for sure. But it’s, it’s really kind of a learning experience of recognizing, “Okay, I need to take a break.” Or, you know, I just, I need to focus on this thing over this thing. 

HEINEN: Do you find that figure skating can be an escape for you? Is it one of those things where you kind of go into a zone and you’re like just within your own mind and it’s peaceful and calming? Or do you get stressed when you’re practicing or I dunno, can’t figure out a move or something? How is it in your head?

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Yeah. It can be very stressful I think because I’ve been doing it for such a long time. It’s a big part of who I am and I, I do really care deeply about what I’m doing. And it’s by far the most difficult thing that I do. I would say there, there are periods of time where I can kind of find that piece on the ice, but, yeah, it’s, it can be difficult.

I, I really have to work to keep my emotions in check and stay in a good mental space. School and the work that I do at the Daily can also really act as like an escape from skating too. So it kind of depends on which one is more stressful at the time.

HEINEN: Do you still find joy from skating or has the competition kind of dulled that in any way?

WARNE-JACOBSEN: That’s a good question. I definitely have, I still have the love for the sport. But at least right now it’s really kind of how much I work to find that joy. The last year and a half has been one of the more difficult times in my career with my mental health and everything.

So yeah. I’ve really just been thinking a lot about how I need to carve out that time to connect with why I enjoy skating. And for me, that’s really more of the artistic expression, the performing arts side of the sport. Yeah, I just, I kind of need to prioritize that for myself sometimes.

HEINEN: You mentioned the performing arts kind of part of it. I think a lot of people also who might just watch figure skating when the Olympics come on, focus a lot on the appearance and like the costume and all that kind of stuff. Do you enjoy the dressing up type part of figure skating? 

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Yeah, that’s absolutely my favorite part of the sport is putting together a program and choreographing it. Working with my choreographers, really finding music I connect to and then putting the whole package together. 

Costumes and everything and kind of playing a character on the ice. That’s absolutely my favorite part. The sport is very athletic and that’s a big part of it. But yeah, for me, my passion is really in the artistic side.

HEINEN: I don’t know how much freedom you have to like, choose your choreography and choose your music and stuff, but do you find that it’s, you can express yourself and like how you’re feeling through your routines?

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Yeah. And I definitely have a lot more freedom now that I’m a much older, experienced skater. But yeah, one of my, one of my favorite parts is connecting with music and expressing myself. One of the programs I’m skating to right now is to the song, “What Was I Made For” by Billie Eilish from the Barbie movie.

And that, yeah, that one really spoke to me and I think I’m able to play the character so well. Because it is really, it’s me, out there. And it, the song really speaks to a lot of my personal experiences and kind of what I feel. So that’s been a really rewarding experience over the last year or so that I’ve had the program. I’m not gonna lie, it can be hard too, right? Because sometimes it feels a little too real.

HEINEN: Yeah. 

WARNE-JACOBSEN: But I feel like that’s the best avenue that I have to really share my experiences and share who I am.

HEINEN: That’s very unique too, because there aren’t many physical sports that you can do and also fully express who you are at the same time. So yeah, that’s really awesome. 

You mentioned your mother is a figure skater or was a figure skater. Does she serve as one of your biggest inspirations when it comes to figure skating? I don’t know how far her career went, but like, is she one of your idols?

WARNE-JACOBSEN: I have surpassed her in competitive results by now. 

HEINEN: Oh wow. 

WARNE-JACOBSEN: She’s a coach now too actually. 

HEINEN: OK. 

WARNE-JACOBSEN: She started coaching figure skating when I started skating. She had been away from the sport for quite some time and, and came back to it when I got into it. And she’s been, yeah, she’s been a really big part of my team.

My parents are my number one supporters and I am, I’m so grateful for them. But yeah, my, my mom, honestly, she’s kind of like my manager if you wanna talk about it in that sense. But yeah, she’s, she has an amazing passion for the sport as, as I do. So yeah, that’s something we definitely share. 

HEINEN: That’s super special to have that connection. And then apart from your mom who are like your top figure skating idols. 

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Growing up Michelle Kwan was always my number one idol in figure skating. I absolutely love her skating. I used to go out on the ice and pretend I was her and skate. And then Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir in ice dance. I’m a long time fan of theirs as well. They’re, they’re just amazing, the connection they have on the ice. 

And kind of going back to that, the artistic performance and expression. Jason Brown, another one from, from the US. He’s just an amazing artist. And so I, I really love to see people with those qualities excelling. 

Because the technical side is so important, but if you have the artistic side, then those people leave so much more of a mark on an audience. Like they remember them for who they are and like the performance they gave.

HEINEN: Have you ever considered doing partner figure skating?

WARNE-JACOBSEN: I did try out for pairs, pair skating, separate from ice dance. But I, it was fun, but I don’t think it was for me. I really kind of enjoy just having it being a solo thing.

HEINEN: Something that has always confused me and I think has confused a lot of people is how is figure skating scored? I’ve never understood it.

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Yeah. I can give the, the simplified version. There’s two sides. There’s a technical side and a component side. Components is on the performance side. So all of the technical elements I do, that would be jumps, spins, step sequence, choreograph sequence. It depends on the level, what elements you have. 

And so there will be a technical panel that watches those looks to see if things are fully rotated, if I’m on the right edge. How the jump was executed technically. That will get a score or sometimes a deduction, unfortunately. 

HEINEN: Mm-hmm. 

WARNE-JACOBSEN: But that’s the technical side of the score. So in addition to the technical score, there’s the component score, and they’re very much connected because how you execute the technical elements, how well those are performed, definitely bleeds into the component score.

But the component score is more focused on skating skills, musical interpretation, things like that. So that’s really much more about the performance that you deliver. And how well you match the music, how well you’ve put the whole package together. So if your technical performance is not as strong, if, if you’ve missed certain elements, that definitely lowers the component score because the whole package isn’t as strong.

The stronger you are in the technical score the more likely it is that you’ll have a strong component score. But the skaters who have both are really the ones you stand out.

The component score is on a scale from zero to 10. And then technical score. All of the technical elements have an assigned value. And then they’ll have percentages either added or taken away depending on how it’s executed. And then the two scores are combined.

HEINEN: Got it. That made sense. Thank you. Now when I watch the Olympics, I’ll actually know what’s going on ’cause I’ve never known. Just give yourself a shout out. What do you have coming up? What should people be looking for?

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Yeah, so I’m going to the U.S. Collegiate Championships in July, so that will be really exciting. I’ll be trying to get a third title. But yeah, just beyond the results. I’m really excited to be back at that event. It’s super fun. 

And then I’m also going into the National Qualifying Series this summer, which is the series that I’ll be going through to attempt to qualify to the US championships in January. So I’ll have a couple summer competitions and then that will go into a fall competition. Hopefully I’ll qualify for a November sectional final, and then that’s where I’ll try to qualify to the January championships.

HEINEN: I hope everything goes well for you, and thank you so much for coming here and chatting with me.

WARNE-JACOBSEN: Thank you for having me. 

HEINEN: Yeah, of course. That’s all we have for you guys today. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about the episode, feel free to drop us an email in our inbox at podcasting@mndaily.com. 

Thank you again for listening. Thank you, Wren, again for joining me. My name is Ceci Heinen, and this has been In The Know.