I gave up skiing for the majority of the winter for four years... and wonder about it every day.

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.For those of you that have the time or those that can empathize with me, I have a story to tell, a story that is as difficult to tell as it is to experience, A story that pitches my future against my present, my love for skiing versus my financial future.

I grew up in Denver and went to Cherry Creek High School. I love that place. If I were to die, Heaven would look something like my house: A suburb, a few SUV's, a boat, some waverunners, 2 brothers, and some loving parents. But most of all, the Rocky Mountains. It would be winter, just after Christmas, and a foot of fresh would be in denver and in the mountains. This happened with frequent regularity, and I couldn't have enjoyed it more.

I also have a talent for school and studying, and a passion for business. I was the president of a 250 person organization (DECA, the largest chapter in the world), and had a 100,000 dollar budget at my disposal. I ran a conference in vail and had travelled to the Broadmoor in Colorado Spings (a very nice hotel), Dallas, and Orlando to represent my chapter and compete in business competition. I won my events usually at the state level, and was a passionate and competent leader.

Senior year I had to choose where I wanted to go to college. I was torn: I had a love for the mountains and for skiing that, and I can say this with some certainty, was unparralelled. I knew which riders were riding for which sponsors, where their home mountains were, what the snow conditions were like at a whim, when the next storm cycle was coming in, when the park at copper and winter park was going to open, exactly how to learn the next trick, which skis were the best for which conditions, everything. But I also knew that the in-state schools (boulder and Denver University, to be specific) weren't up to par for me academically. I think it is safe to say that i am a smart kid: i took 7 AP classes and got 4's and 5's on all of them, and took countless other honors classes.

So what did I do? I applied to 8 schools, and applied to my parents Alma Mater's honors program. Miami University in oxford, OH. no mountains out there... but a great program. I had the opportunity for small class sizes, research, intimate business study, and A brand new business buiding that would capapult the business school to the top ten in the country by the time i graduated.

What did I do? My parents were encouraging me to take a break from skiing. You can ski when you graduate, they said. You can ski when you come home from break SKIING IS NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD, they said. I listened. In the end, between denver University Boulder, and Miami, I took Miami.

I have interviewed Colin Powell regarding President Bush's economic policies. I have heard Thomas Friedman (author of the World is Flat, a brillant piece of writing, go read it if you feel intelligent.) speak, and I was in the first couple rows. I have done numerous reseach projects and case studies, and will walk out of here with great friends and a kick-ass degree that will hopefully lead me to an Ivy League MBA. I love my school. I am in a fraternity (SigEp) and I am on it's exec board. Would it not be for my fraternity, I would have transferred to Boulder, taken the easy route, went back to my high school friends (My high school is huge and has a large representation at boulder.) But I didn't. I am staying. But...

I still wonder how my life would be different if I had stayed in Denver or Boulder. I read my powder and my freeskier all the time and find that I talk about Denver and Skiing more here in Ohio than i do at home. At home skiing is just a given: here, it is a novelty. I am made fun of because of how i dress (hoodies and shell top shoes versus polos and sperrys.) But I know that I am making my family proud, and myself comfortable, knowing I will have a kick ass job and be financially secure...

But I took the safe route. My business mind did a cost benefit analysis and told me to leave home... because of the long term benefit. It is something I question every day, every morning, every time a snowflake falls here.

So to those of you who are about to start making college decisions, FOLLOW YOUR STRONGEST PASSION. You will be able to live with yourself. For those of you on here, that probably is going where the mountains and the snow are. Do it. Don't regret it. Follow your heart, because you will always be questioning yourself if you don't. Get out there and live it up.

Joe Viseur

loyal NS member since 2003,

I am a Skier
 
yes, skiing is not the most important thing in the world. nothing wrong with being obsessed with it though.
 
You made the right choice. As much as I love it, if I had to choose between skiing and a better education with more options for the future, I would quit skiing. Skiing will always be there for you after you finish school.
 
Good for you.You realize that's not for everyone though. But props for making it that far. Good story, minus joining a frat.
 
wow. if it's any consolation, it seems like someday while a lot of people here who followed their dreams are sleeping in their cars all night to get fresh pow, you'll be in your slopeside condo. Skiing is great, but i think it blinds a lot of people. You can only live the dream of being a ski bum for so long if you plan on doing anything other than skiing your whole life. Not you though, you're showing intelligence by securing your own economic future and building a base for yourself. Trust me, if you love it enough (which you seem to) you'll have more sick days of skiing ahead.

(I'm not putting down either lifestyle here, hell, if you wanna sleep in a car and ski your whole life, go for it. If you wanna work and be financially stable etc etc, a more traditional life, then go for that too. I'm all about people being happy with their lives.)

and hey, at least you have security in the future. In a few years i am basically going to be stumbling my way across Europe trying out for any soccer club i can trying to make it big, with little chance to ski. But i think the slim chance is worth the risk
 
same man don't sweat it. I'm just finishing up college (5 year plan) and I've only been able to go skiing about 3 times in the last 4 years because of not having any money and going to a college nowhere by any legit mountains. In high school I went all the time, and when I graduate and get a job I will continue to hit the slopes and rent cabins on the slopes with my friends. Right now just too busy and really can't afford it. Def a financial reality that make me ambitious to finish my degree and become successful.
 
Word up! I'm going to have my fun while I'm still young. I'll do my best to make sure school and work don't hold me down, we'll see how it pans out. Still, mad respect, you seem like you have a bright future.
 
you made a decision and not even hindsight, in this case, is 20/20.

I, too, went through that dilemma. But I didn't put my love for mountains second. I allowed the two to tie. You would have, too, if you only knew how feasible it is to have the best of both worlds.

Good luck.
 
Skiing isnt impossible for you. Although it will be a disapointing return compared to what you are used to, Snowshoe and Appalachian aren't bad. Get some friends together and make a roadtrip out of it.
 
yo this is inspireing cause my path is different from yours in the fact i try hard at school but lack common skills and test scores. i hope to go out to colorado after doing schooling cause skiing isnt the most important thing and i also commend you on skiing in ohio, its a novelty the few the proud, not many people do it but when you do your legit cause you have something most of your friends dont. and miami is a legit school harder to get into then osu.

mad props
 
I went through a similar decision with college. Id always done good in school, i never spent alot of time on it or felt very passionate about it, i was just one of the kids that would do really well without studying and still partying quite abit. When i started thinking about colleges my parents of course wanted me go to a good school, stanford and cornell were on the list of schools i was looking at. But id visited cornell, and dartmouth, and just didn't get a good vibe from either of them. Then we went to colorado to visit cu and csu. After visiting it out here and skiing a few days while looking at schools it wasn't a hard decision, i didn't even apply to anywhere besides cu and csu and uvm as back ups. I still want to do well in school, have a 3.7 but after this ski season its gonna probably be a bit lower, and do something with my degree, but i would never regret this decision. Iv had the most amazing time skiing out here, making great friends, partying in boulder rather than vermont. Even if i could have gotten a better job later in life going to a better school the good times iv had in co rather than some ivy league shit are absolutely worth it.
 
that was really well written, skiing can be your main passion but you got to have balance. but I have to hate you because you went to Creek and I go to Regis
 
Dude that was deep. The only thing i can say is that if your still in college at Miami oh Ohio. Hit up Perfect North Slopes. Its the best place around. The vibe there is like nowhere else around. Thats all i can say about this. But this is a really good mesage
 
good lil bit of advice. im kinda stuck right now too. im having a hard time finding motivation to sudy and i dont knpw exactly what i wanna do after i graduate. that helped me realize that school is more important than skiing and i need to start focusing on school now, or i wont be able to focus on skiing at all.

+k for a legit thread
 
you definitely made the right decision. your pretty set for finding a good job and if you love skiing as much as i think you do, you'll probably end up buying a condo somewhere around a mountain.your a smart guy, i see why you look back and see what life could have been like, but you made the right choice dude thats why i want you to give yourself a pat on the back for being wise and heading down the road to a bright bright future
 
huckcliffs, did you look at school of mines? there are quite a few kids from cherry creek that go here, and its business program isn't too bad.. skiing isn't far either.
 
I'm glad that I found a school that had a strong progam in what I wanted to do that is also pretty close to skiing.
 
If you love skiing and are GOOD at it then you can have a future in it. Very very very very very few people actually ever get the opportunity to ski for free their whole life. Bummin' it is hard and I don't think I'd really enjoy it.

I'd rather have security in a job that I like than to have to worry about whether to ski or eat. So yeah...I think I'm taking the safe route and going to an academically good school that will ensure me a job, a spot in a graduate school for a PhD or another degree, and then a higher paying job after that in which I can decide whether I want to be closer to the mountains or not. I'll be close to the mountains at every school I apply to anyways so it's not a big deal.
 
dude i grew up right near miami oh. u could just ski perfect north. not a moutain by any curcumstances but super legit park and like 30 min from oxford
 
Could you try to rationalize not skiing any harder?
It sounds like you are just trying to make the decision feel right with yourself.
You have set yourself up for a life on a linear path filled with the same bullshit that nearly every other robot in this country goes through. You dream of the suburbs in Cherry Creek? Either you live the most mundane life possible or you have never been anywhere worth living.
Can you possibly toot your horn any harder? You're really claiming Miami Univ and its business program? Really? That's not going to put you in a better position than a BA in business from CU or DU, all the same mediocre bullshit pieces of paper from second tier schools, but I'm sure you did so much novel, qualitative research (just what the world needs). If your such an esteemed business man then why are you striving for an Ivy League MBA? Just another bullshit piece of paper that doesn't equate to any actual growth in knowledge. Since business majors score the lowest on the GMAT anyway maybe I can tutor you and get you up to that oh so tough lower quartile of the bottom wrung ivy league schools.
You interviewed Colin Powell regarding Bush's economic policies (he has a Havard MBA, he must have a full economic understanding). Did you really just claim that? That like asking Elmo his thoughts on the Punic Wars. Could you ask two people who know less about a subject?
You can all claim that you will 'totally take years off and ski when you finish school'. Nearly all of you are going to get a job, get used to the money, 9-5 lifestyle and struggle for 20 days a year because you have to drink away your sorrows and crushed dreams every friday and saturday night.
What you should have done is take off spring semester each year, work a shit job, drink away your sorrows on weeknights and ski 7 days a week. Who the fuck thinks they can push their skiing at 25? My body isn't that old yet and hurts much worse when I could have just shook it off when I was 19. Your best years are behind you, but at least you got to spend them in Ohio.
You were on the executive board of your frat, good for you.
 
i kinda had to make a similar decision, ski almost every day, or just ski 2 or 3 days a week, so i either had to live in the mountains and go to a shitty school, or live in my home town 2 hours away from the mountains. i chose go live in the mountains, and i regret it, so next year im going back home. its not that i dont like skiing, skiing is probably my favorite thing in the world to do, but its the atmosphere and the lack of good friends, everyone around here cant live without constantly being high, and getting drunk every night, theres this "chill" attitude everyone fakes, they try to seem as relaxed as they can, but the second you do something they dont like they get all butt hurt and pissy, cause you know they are all a bunch of wangster kids with millionare parents.so yeah, next year im going back home, where all my friends are, and where everyone goes out and has fun instead of sitting around all day smoking for fun. being able to ski every day is awesome, but being around a bunch of showy attention whore stoners all the time just sucks ass.
as for the school part, im basically going to get a somewhat decent job for awhile till i have enough money to start my own business, i dont plan on making 500,000 a year, i dont want to, just a good small business so i can have enough money to live in a small simple house in a sweet neighborhood,with lots of toys (like dirtbikes, fun cars, a boat and shit, and not have to constantly worry about money. but thats a good 15 years away, and a whole different period of my life, so for right now, all i want to do is have as much fun as possible, and be doing shit every day.
 
This thread are too serious~

I are fix!

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Sweet blog

I did well in high school and was all set to go to college. I ate a bunch of acid had a bad trip and got booted out of the house. I had to go to work to support myself and my party lifestyle. As a apprentice carpenter I saw how much $$$ the peice working roofers were making and it was a job that you could smoke dope, jump rope and act like a billy goat and still bank good dough. I was spending most of my time after work at the bar so I became a bartender because only one side of the bar pays. I met a cool chick who was finishing school to become a physical therapist. I talked her into matrimony and convinced here to leave Chitown for the Wasatch. I own my own construction business and do a little fishing guiding to mix things up. In the winter I've been working at resorts for a dozen years now. I work nights and average ~125 days of skiing a year. We have a sweet house 1/2 mile from the mouth of little cottonwood canyon. The bank still owns it but they let us live there and it's worth more than 2x what we paid for it. I have done a lot of work on it. I drive a nice Suv, I'ts got a hemi bitch and the Mrs. just got a new Subie. I have a kick ass Newffy dog and enough toys and the time to use them to make us happy. We go on a yurt trip someplace cool every winter. I lead a damn good life. My only advice to you is take a year off before you take that Mba to the real world and find out what it is like to ski all day every day for at least a winter. If you don't there will always be this nagging vice in the back of your head that will wonder what if. Once you have "made it" and you go on your yearly vacation never look down upon that dirtbag skibum who is helping you for he leads a life that he choices and his rewards are greater than any material thing one can posess.

I am more of a skier

and have chosen a life path that allows it

 
alright this guy is pouring his heart out and your all being idiots.

anyway man. i respect what you did. it would be tough but you gotta know that a good education will defenetly benefit you more in the long run.

me? i found my program at a local school right near my hill. to be honest its a community college, but has a pretty good reputation and is a good school. i wish i pushed myself more and got into a university but hey what can you do?
 
I dont think pointing out you can live a good comfortable life without a college edumacation is being an idiot. You may want to look around in these economic times there are a lot of mba's walking around unemployed or slinging drinks to make ends meet. Your life is what you make of it.

If You think 4 or more years learning shit you don't really need and a peice of paper is the answer right on

Frats are gay and for people who can't make freinds on their own IMHO
 
i'm speechless. not only was that an awesome piece of writing, but we have scary similar lives..
 
clap clap clap

good read, but i dont think i would have been able to pick miami over denver.........................
 
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