Personal Narrative: My Skiing

Pursuing a university degree while continuing to ski race at a high level is my main goals for the next four years. I strive to find balance between school and sport while pursuing excellence in both. Growing up and learning how to ski on limited snow in Nova Scotia has given me a deep appreciation of all the wonderful ski centers Canada has to offer. I developed my love for skiing on the 2.5 km of trails that Martock Nordic Ski Club groomed near Windsor, NS, those small trails sparked my interest in skiing and have kept me loving skiing ever since. When deciding what to do after high school, I knew that I wanted to continue ski racing, but also continue with my education.

Omg! I am going to have so much fun snowboarding! Today in my life I am at a super cool place. It’s in the UP and it’s called Ski Brule. It has all the snow hills you could possibly think about. I could never stop imagine me going down the hill and be so proud of me. But hopefully I don’t break any bones in my body. Because I still have basketball in the winter. But after I just took a soft energize nap. Then… We arrived. OM to the G! It was exactly what I imagined. The people gliding through the snow with their cool snowboards and their ski’s.

During ski season, I spend an average of 22 hours a week with my teams. The sport of ski racing has taken up a huge part of my life, and thus has affected my life in innumerable ways. I have been skiing since I was four years old, but started racing in 7th grade. My freshman year, I quickly realized that hard work was necessary to get what I wanted. I had to choose between skiing on both teams, my grades, and other activities if I was going to pursue them with the dedication with which I wanted. It really wasn’t a choice to me. I chose a hard course load and skiing over a number of other activities that I could have pursued. Staying involved while maintaining my 3.78 GPA has taught me a lot about time management and leadership, and has

Everything had led up to this moment. There were the remaining two finalists at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games, ready to risk it all. I tensed my shoulders, ready to make the final jump that would land me onto the podium. After jumping off the bed and nailing a perfect landing, I was an all American gymnast. I ran toward the makeshift gold medal, a marvelous sight made of a single dollar coin taped to a piece of yard. I looked backwards to see how the other finalist had fared, and every compelling emotion swapped places for a single word: dread. Forty minutes later, we were at JFK’s emergency center, awaiting the results of my brother’s MRI.

Last year I started a new sport, cross country. I only did it because my lacrosse coach said that it might help me get better for lacrosse. So I went to the first late summer practice last year to see what this was like, so then we did warm-ups and a lap around the track. Then it was the first time I met coach Chase, My first impression of him was going to be very strict, But soon realized that this was false because of one of the first things he said. He said “I know there are a lot of nerves here right now, but cross country isn’t about winning every race, that comes later” then continued with “Cross country is about showing what you can do to yourself.” This struck me very hard because I was not that fast and was near the back. Through that fall the team did very well, I also made some progress myself. After the season was over I made a decision.

Elizabeth looked down the ski slope. It seemed steeper from the top than it did from the bottom. She should have stayed on the bunny slope with the beginers but her brother laughed at her. Elizabeth knew that if she didn't go down the slope, her brother would tease her more. She tipped her skis and started down the hill. She tried to remember how to stop as the trees on the side of the slope went by faster and faster. There was a Mogul, a little hill in the middle of the ski slope, and when Elizabeth went over it, her skis left the snow. She was in mid-air. What if she broke her leg? Her skis hit the snow with a thud. She leaned left and she leaned right. She couldn't believe she was still upright. Elizabeth closed her eyes. When she opened

One skill I possess is the ability to snowboard., I have a lot more confidence in my ability to glide down a mountain now because of past failures and fears that I have had to overcome. One example of a fear I have had to overcome is the fear of catching an edge on my board. This fear of an unknown flip caused me to become a really cautious snowboarder. It took me until this year to really start becoming more of an adventurous snowboarder. This included me starting to actually start going for jumps and tricks in the terrain park, which came with a lot of injuries. I also Another thing I started doing differently was changeding up how I went down the mountain. Before I would find myself going slowly making my way to the bottom making sure I

The light from the setting sun shimmers off the snowy treetops. Air whistles around my ears, skin tingling and burning. I leave fresh, crisp footprints in the dry snow as if I am the only person who has ever stepped foot there. The naked trees standing tall and still, untouched. Standing in silence letting the snowflakes fall in my golden hair. Coming to my hideaway gives me a rush of memories of a simpler time. Sledding down a steep hill, steamy hot chocolate warming my frostbitten hands, curling up in a cozy blanket, the scent of my mom’s Yankee candle, and my favorite memory, my life as an ice skater. It is a time of innocence that everyone experiences at some time or another. A feeling that seems almost everlasting. I catch myself coming

The the darkness of the black night seeps through the walls of my house, engulfing the hallway to my parents room in shadow. I walk tentatively, towards the open door, a tension and sense of anxiety building in my chest because I know that what I am about to say will invoke anger from my Father. “We can’t go skiing” I blurt out, explaining to my parents that I have a midterm next Thursday in AP U.S History so I can not go on the family skiing trip that had been planned for over a month. My father’s frustration becomes apparent to me, his sharply voice raising, his tone becoming stern and his brows furrowing.

I stared up at the hill and swallowed hard. Having just skied down the hill successfully, I was proud but worried about getting back up. The smell of cold stung my nose, making it feel as if I would sneeze snow if I sneezed. I wrinkled my nose and blinked the snow out of my eyes. Why did it have to be so windy today? Urgh.

Over the past sixteen years I’ve watched my daughter grow into a beautiful young adult. In middle was the start of her field hockey career that she has still played into her sophomore year and years to come. She is on the high school ski team and has learned how to become a ski racer. It was and still is a challenged because her first year ever to ski race was as freshmen year. Every sport she plays she puts her all into and is persistent. Every year my daughter grows and shows me how capable and trustworthy she is. I trust my daughter and I know that she will make good decisions while driving out on the road and in general.

My love for ice skating started when I was 4 years old because I wasn't old enough to stay home I had to see my older sister would go to basic and I would see her fly around like a monkey. I thought it looked like a lot of fun so I asked my Mom “Can I start to ice skate?” she said yes and that's where it all began.

As my upper body shifted to the right, everything from my waist and below stayed true to the course, including the ski poles. I ran over the handle of my ski pole, with my stomach. The pole was pushed up into my lower abdomen, propelling me off of the slope entirely, I was airborne. I landed on my back, completely out breath, and dazed to the point I had no recollection of where I was. The next moment was particularly scary for me, all I can recall was the ringing of a whistle in my ear, and the red lights flashing from the ski patrols snowmobiles. Unsure of any injuries, the ski patrol had braced my back and neck, strapped me to a board, and began to tow me down the mountain.

I started skiing around 3 years old on small plastic skis, with fish scales. To this day they hang on the wall of my room. After a few winters of playing around on the local sledding hills in the olympus area I was brought to the real ski slopes at age five. I was put through the Brighton ski school, respectively earning all the stickers on my skills badge, another memento of my early days. After I completed ski school, my family changes to skiing snowbird, where I learned to enjoy the steeps. At age ten we began skiing at Park City Mountain Resort which I continued to ski throughout highschool and into college, accumulating 12 seasons at PC. In college I learned about backcountry skiing and left the resorts behind to earn my turns. For

My heart was thumping heavily, as the bus took a turn towards the mountains. I didn’t know why I had agreed, but it was too late to turn back.