Travel

Since the age of 3 I have been skiing at  Stratton Mountain, Vermont for nearly every weekend for 14 years. I started off in ski school, and learned quickly but I was never a fan of the instructors. At the age of 5, I was actually kicked out of ski school for misbehaving and not listening to a single instructor I had. For the next 5 years I learned to ski with my mother and father, which was amazing because I got to spend time with my family and become a much better skier, but I missed the friend aspect of being in ski school. So when I was 10 I decided to go into a ski program called Synergy at Stratton, where I was put with kids my age and similar ability level. It was awesome, I got to explore the mountain with other kids and have fun. I actually met my best friend Ian, who I do everything, in this program. Eventually Ian and I grew out of synergy and started ski racing. Ski racing was a completely different experience from what I was used to, and I loved it. I competed for the Stratton Mountain School Ski Academy until 11th grade. While I was racing, whether it be in training or in competition, nothing was on my mind. It was the only place where I felt completely free and relaxed, I experienced Flow, one of the aspects of PERMA. Nothing was on my mind aside from getting from point A to point B as fast and as smooth as possible. Unfortunately in the Vermont State Championship I had a bad accident, which I never fully recovered from. Although I no longer compete, I now coach expert level kids how to perfect their skiing and hopefully let them have the same experience I have every time I go on the snow.