I just got a phone call from Kevin Jardine who is the head coach and director of the US Ski team and he informed me that I am now an official member of the United States Ski Team. The US Ski team consists of three teams A, B, and C. The A and B teams are athletes that have points low enough to be world cup qualified racers. The C team is the development team. I am on the B team. Which means I will now travel with the best racers in the country with the best coaches. I will travel across the world with them now. I have been training and hoping for the last six years to become a part of this team to represent the United States of America in World Cups and the Paralympics. I have waited and worked so hard for this that for a while i thought it was just unrealistic for it to actually happen.Well it did. Kevin called me and I started shaking as he told me this. " I want to help you get a bite out of the world and make it on the podium" was what he said. I will never forget those words and the feeling in my stomach I got from it.
But I will never forget the one person that brought me to here, right now. Mau. She was the first person I shook hands with when I was 9 years old at Camelback. From that day, to 6 years later, she has built me from a little 9 year old Pennsylvania girl, to an athlete which is now on the US National team. She shaped me and formed me into a strong, independent ski racer. She brought me this far, and I will never forget that as long as I live.
