2024 ACADEMIC ELITE ESSAYS - PART ONE
Each year in the late spring we open up our application for the MMCF Academic Elite Team. The MMCF Academic Elite Team Award honors student/athletes who excel in the classroom and on the slopes, which is no easy task!
Student/athletes are just that - Student/Athletes! Along with training, traveling, competing and maintaining equipment, the Academic Elite Team also manages their academics, earning a GPA of 3.5 or higher!
This application is not just a questionnaire for one to fill in the blanks. A short essay is required with age appropriate prompts.
Elementary School Students:
You get to make a new national holiday. What is it about and how do you celebrate?
Middle School Students:
Write about a time that you were brave.
High School Students:
Discuss why mental health is just as important as physical health.
The essays involved quite an array of subjects and many were thought provoking, interesting and encouraging as well. We were impressed with the quality of the essays 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!!
GAVIN GRAHAME – 6th GRADE
If I could create a new national holiday, I would establish Ski Area Founders Day where all ski areas would celebrate their unique heritage. It is important to recognize the people that founded ski areas because of the hard work they put into building ski areas that are enjoyed by so many people year after year. It is also important to learn the background and history of the founders because their legacy is an important part of our nation's history. For instance, soldiers from the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division founded several ski areas in Colorado when they returned from fighting in World War 2. While Dave McCoy wasn't a member of the 10th Mountain Division, he founded Mammoth Mountain around the same time. He is a major part of Mammoth Mountain's history and the history of Mammoth Lakes too.
At Mammoth we would celebrate Ski Area Founders Day by learning the mountain's history from Dave McCoy's family, longtime mountain employees and the Ski Patrol. I would ask Casey McCoy what it was like when he realized his grandpa founded the ski area. I would also like to hear his favorite memory of growing up skiing with his grandpa. From the employees, I would like to know what it was like working for Dave and how the area has changed since they first started working at Mammoth. I'd like to hear about how the Race Department started and learn about some of the famous skiers that have been a part of the program like Andrea Mead-Lawrence and. After learning about the history, we would ski around to historic sites on the mountain with the Ski Patrol. I would like to learn about the fumarole near chair 3 where three patrollers died tragically and then visit the memorial at the top of the mountain dedicated to them. We would end the day of celebration with a lap down Dave's Run and then head to another historic site, The Yodler, to enjoy a pretzel with friends and family.
BEATRICE KIM – 11th GRADE
As a competitive snowboarder, there are many things that I do off the snow in order to be successful in my sport. I work out in the gym to build strength; I do pilates to strengthen my core and improve flexibility; and I eat a well balanced diet to stay strong and nourished. Being aware of all of my body's physical needs is just as important as the fundamentals and technical training that I do in the halfpipe. Beyond all the hours I spend on the mountain or in the gym, the most important muscle that I train is my brain. Prioritizing mental health is just as important as physical health because our mental health controls our emotions, our psyche, our mindset and our overall well being. If one's mental health is struggling or weak, it restricts the body's ability to reach its full potential physically. By focusing on my mental health, I am able to better control how I think and feel, and ultimately how I perform. There is no doubt that snowboarding is a scary sport, and in the past, I have experienced how the mind can prevent me from doing what I know I am capable of doing on my board. Training my brain and staying mentally healthy allows me to deal with the stress and overcome fear in order to maximize my productivity on the mountain and have fun.
PIPER KASTOR – 7th GRADE
This charger season was both challenging and fun. Our coaches pushed our limits to show us things we didn't know we were capable of. I learned a valuable lesson on bravery that I will use in the future.
A time I was brave was when my Chargers' team was under chair 5, on upper dry creek where there was a large rock. Our coach challenged us to jump off it. I felt scared but had to make a quick decision.
At first, I thought being scared was a sign of weakness, and that I was losing my talent for skiing. Before I got too in my head, I decided to trust my ability. Also, I convinced myself that our coach must have believed we could do it. I let my skis lead, and I jumped off the rock.
After a couple turns, I looked up to watch my teammates also jumping. Because of that quick decision, I instantly felt relieved, happy, and brave. My teammates and I gave each other high-fives.
That day, I learned that bravery can't exist without first feeling fear. Fear can stop you, but you can also use it to show your courage. We must be brave to continue getting better. Bravery exists because of fear to show us our true strengths. I can use this lesson in skiing and in life, and I'm so grateful for this sport that teaches me so much.
CALVIN WONG – 8th GRADE
For me, to be brave is to be able to step out of your comfort zone. One important time I was brave was in my 6th grade class. I was never really a talkative person, especially in school. Even today I'm still very shy. School for me was about simply getting work done well enough, and having virtual classes the previous year did not help.
It was just the beginning of the school year. We had just finished our lesson on early humans and rather than a final test, we were assigned to come up with a tool early humans may have used and make a commercial on it (and you had to be the main person in the commercial) in a week. Making a project like this was pretty new to me, but we learned some video production and advertising tactics.
I had no idea where to start, but I wanted to get it done quickly. I started just banging rocks to try and sharpen them and call it a day. It didn't work. So I took a bone instead, cracked it in half, and dulled it so I wouldn't injure myself. I came up with two uses for the tool to satisfy the requirements: self-defense and a way to mark points on land.
The next few days were to work on the commercial. Our class had to share only two green screens and we only had a couple of hours to record. My brain was completely fogged. I had planned on using a tactic we learned called "make people read", which excludes talking to make the viewer look at the screen since I knew I wouldn't be able to speak very enthusiastically as a spokesperson.
I still wasn't sure what exactly I would do, so I watched a few of my classmates go first. One of my classmates was nice enough to help play another person. Eventually, I built the courage to start recording. It was nerve-wracking by itself, and having some of my waiting classmates watching didn't help either. Luckily I managed to get the clips I needed in a minimal amount of takes and editing it didn't take too long.
After this project, I was able to enjoy my school year more. I didn't feel as scared about a project and I enjoyed the process of working on assignments. Taking that first step by going out of my comfort zone helped me improve.
