2023 ACADEMIC ELITE TEAM AWARD - part two
The MMCF Academic Elite Team Award honors student/athletes who excel in the classroom and on the slopes, which is no easy task! This application is not just a questionnaire for one to fill in the blanks.
In order to be awarded with the Academic Elite Team Award, students need to maintain a minimum of a 3.5 GPA plus be on the Mammoth Mountain Ski Snowboard Team.
In addition, we ask the student/athletes to write a short essay. The essay prompts are age appropriate and are:
Elementary School Students
Think about what it means to be a good friend. Describe three things that make a good friendship, and why they are important to you.
Middle School Students
Can failure be good? Discuss a time you made a mistake and what you learned from it.
High School Students
If you could give a TED talk, what topic would you discuss? Describe at least three main points you'd like to share and why this subject is important to you.
The essay responses from the student/athletes covered a large range of subjects and many were thought provoking, interesting and encouraging as well.
We, at MMCF, were impressed and so over the next several months, with the permission of the essay author, we would like to highlight and share some of the essays with you – our MMCF family!!
GEORGE PISENTI
We are faced with many hard challenges in life, and whether big or small, they all impact us in one way or the other. A way people like to spread awareness or talk openly about their situation is by giving a TED Talk. If I were to give one, I would talk about overcoming an issue in your life. We've all had a problem or issue in our time on Earth, or even an injury of some sort. Whatever it is, it'll take a toll on your overall well being. Personally, my current problem is an injury. We've all experienced discomfort, whether it ranges from a smashed finger or if you're like me, a torn ACL. I am a skier, so I realize ACL tears are common, but it wasn't ever a goal of mine. I don't think it's many people's goal, quite frankly. Currently, I am recovering after my surgery, so the worst part is over, but I still am in great pain. Not only physical pain, but it is mentally beating and tiresome. I can sit here all day long and complain and grumble, but it's only going to make me feel even more lousy. Unfortunately, I've been doing that, although, like all things in life, there is always a good side to the problem. Sometimes the good side is harder to find, but it's there. My advice would be to try and focus on the good and realize there are always better days ahead. When it comes to things like this, I've learned to just accept the fate. You can't speed up a recovery from an injury, only time will do that. While it may seem there is no hope, there definitely still is. The more you agonize, the longer your healing process will be. Try to do your best to understand that aching is only temporary. Some people may experience the mental and physical ache for much longer periods, but in the end, everything has to work out. If things are really that on that much if decline in your life, try to figure out how to start walking uphill a little more. I started to get on an incline by going to physical therapy and convincing myself everything will work out. No matter what it is, there is always a destination point. This will not just come naturally. Exertion of your own strength is necessary in all aspects of life, but to overcome certain problems, sometimes it takes a little more power. It's not easy at all, it comes with soreness, pain, and all of the above. As hard as it is to believe, in the end, it'll be worth it. Whatever energy you put into something, it will be returned at some point and you'll be very appreciative years down the road.
SOPHIA GEFFRE
My name is Sophia Geffre, and my Ted Talk is about The Power of Believing You Can Improve. When used effectively, our minds can be extremely powerful. Humans are capable of far more than we realize. I feel that the power of our thoughts can aid us in improving the outcome of our current task. My own devotion to this idea stems from the fact that in my ten years of skiing and five years of ski racing, I have discovered that when I feel confident and believe in myself, I have better results. Every year, I have worked hard to surpass what I previously accomplished. Improvement takes time, effort, energy, and most of all, consistency. The more consistent you are with your effort, the better your mind will become at performing it. Your body is an amazing thing but your mind is what controls it. Just because you can do something now doesn't mean you can do it tomorrow, and just because you're not the best today doesn't mean you can't be the best tomorrow.
Although it will take time and work, the more practice and patience we put in, the better we will become. This applies to every sport, not just skiing. My younger brother has been playing ice hockey since he was two years old, and my father coaches his team. I've always loved the game, but have been too afraid to try and play. I was frightened of failing because I was a girl and had never done it before. It wasn't until my last year of middle school that I realized I didn't care what people thought and I wanted to play. My dad signed me up and we went to my first practice. I stepped out onto the freshly cut ice took one skate, then fell flat on my face. I became quite disappointed and wanted to give up, but as practice progressed, I recognized improvements in myself which gave me the motivation to continue. I realized that if given enough time, I could be just as good as everyone else. I also learned to apply the skills I had learned from playing other sports - balance and edging from skiing, hand-eye coordination from volleyball, and field awareness from soccer. I worked and worked until I was just where I wanted to be: with the rest of my team. Simply because others have a head start does not mean you cannot catch up. It takes courage to try something new, but you may discover a new passion for something you enjoy doing. I still have to work hard every day, but I am willing to go to whatever length to enhance my skills and performance.
As Dr. Suess said, "You'll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut." Open your mind to new ideas and believe in yourself, and your abilities.
Thank you.
PRESTON BETZ
Failure can be good in many ways. Not only does it allow us to find out what doesn't work so we can adjust our future attempts, but we also learn about ourselves in the process. In addition, we may be able to gain a bit of empathy towards others that might be struggling as well, It is often said that "Failure shows us that we are invested in life." After all, before we fail at something, we must have decided that we wanted to try it.
One time that I experienced failure was when I received an "F" on my history quiz. This happened because I wasn't listening well. My teacher was explaining to my classmates and me the directions for a quiz. I was thinking about something else at the time. I finished the quiz very early and since I'm not allowed to look at anyone else or their papers, I put my head on the desk and closed my eyes for the remainder of the time. At the end when my teacher collected all of the tests, I started to discuss the quiz with my classmates.
I asked what they thought about the test and they asked me a few questions about some problems they had trouble with. I did not understand a few questions they were asking because I never saw them. I completely missed the entire back side of the test! During these discussions, I thought perhaps I had different questions or a different test. They were confused when I asked this because everyone else had similar questions and answers. I had the courage to ask my teacher about it and she shared that we all had the same test with the same questions. I then asked her if the test was five questions long just to clarify that mine was no different from the others.
She then said the test consisted of ten questions – five on each side. When she said this, I was confused and exclaimed "Wait, there was a back side?" Needless to say, my teacher was not happy with me and said that I should have listened to the directions better. I again found the courage to ask her if there was any way that I could have the test back to complete the other side. She simply said "No."
This left an impression on me. I have never received an “F” on anything before. I felt like a complete failure. However, I definitely learned from this mistake and have changed the way I do things because of it. I now listen to directions, establish a plan for what needs to be done for an assignment or test, and I slow down to ensure I have completed tasks correctly rather than rushing through. This failure has been a valuable lesson learned for me, and I have adjusted the way I approach school and other aspects of life because of it.
CARVER RUDDICK
I'm not a fan of public speaking but if I had to give a TED talk it would be on how to battle back from a tough injury. My speech's three main points would include 1) focusing first on the physical recovery which will be hard but worth it, 2) preparing yourself mentally for the recovery and returning to sport, and 3) being willing to take risks again.
When I was 11, I broke my femur at Mammoth when another skier ran into me at full speed and I was stopped. The impact shattered my bone near the hip, and my leg turned around backwards. It was the most pain I've ever been in, and I was so scared. Fortunately Mammoth's hospital is close by and I was able to have surgery within a couple of hours. The surgeon put a rod in the middle of my bone and secured it with screws and clamps. I thought I was going to die from the pain, when we were driving back to southern California to start my recovery.
I was very sad for a long time, I didn't want to miss any skiing and a big snow year. I couldn't do anything or go anywhere. I was stuck in my bed and even needed help to go to the bathroom. School was hard and I had to be moved around in a wheelchair. My knee locked up from being in a straight position for so long, and I needed a second surgery within a couple of weeks. But eventually I started my PT which allowed me to begin focusing on physical recovery. I had a great PT named Alvin who understood my pain and anguish, and helped me get strong again with challenging exercises. I think I came back stronger than I was before the injury. I also started focusing on what I wanted to do after recovery by watching a lot of ski videos and coming up with goals. I knew I was going to miss a whole ski season so I started thinking of where I would have been without the injury and wanted to get to that point. And finally, once I was recovered and ready to ski again, I had to overcome any fears of reinjury and be willing to take risks again. I went back into skiing slowly and then quickly got back to where I was before. It was a very painful injury but I think I'm a stronger skier because of it.
MARCO SILVERA
In my opinion, failure is the best and most helpful way to learn because it provides you with a bad scenario resulting from an unlearned lesson, therefore revealing a personal flaw that can be fixed. One personal example from my life was in 4th grade, when I had a quiz coming up and decided that I didn't need to study, despite my teachers telling me to. I had thought that I already knew the material and that studying would have been a waste of time. I ended up getting a 60 on the quiz, and this taught me the importance of studying before an exam, no matter how much you think you know the topic. Because of this, I have developed a habit of always making sure to study before upcoming tests and quizzes and therefore became a much better and more responsible student.
