If I could tell about one of my most amazing extracurricular activities at Gould Academy, it would be skiing. Before meeting Juliana Montgomery who made the A.S.I. documentary in Afghanistan, I never thought I would be able to see other people skiing-let alone myself doing it. When I met Juliana in Kabul, she asked me if I wanted to ski at Gould. For a moment, I was at an awe of hearing about such an opportunity. Ever since that day, I became so thrilled about skiing that I would pay for internet café to watch skiing videos on Youtube. However, having never skied before, I was unsure if I would be able to learn. When I shared my excitement with my mom, she used to tell me not to try “crazy stuff” because who would take care of me if I broke a bone. I totally understood her concerns, but I also wanted to take my chances and benefit from this opportunity.
During the registration day at Gould last September, I was given a long list of sports to choose from. I did not know most of those sports, but I made sure I chose skiing and soccer. I was equally excited for soccer as I was for skiing. For the first time, I was going to play soccer on the grass unlike in Afghanistan where I played on the dirt. After a few days of playing soccer at Gould, I discovered that I was not going to be able to continue due to an old back injury. It was a huge disappointment. I had just started to make friends on my soccer team. Not only I missed soccer but I also became hesitant about my ability to ski. I passed the fall with one leg in my classes the other in different doctors’ offices to fix my back. Although none of the treatments were helpful, I decided to ski.
My first day on the mountain at the Sunday River is an unforgettable experience. In the beginning I was nervous because I thought I would be the only beginner. However, when I saw a couple of other kids in my situation, I became a little relieved. We went on a flat spot for the first few days with a special trainer who taught us how to make turns, stop, speed up or slow down. I remember when I first got on my skies I could not stand unlike other beginners. I held on to my partner and listened to the coach as he explained the techniques. After the coach’s demonstration, everyone took turn to do the same thing. Although some kids laughed at each other, but my turns would make the whole team laugh because my upper body was turning west while my legs were going east. I fell, struggled and tolerated the chuckle of my friends and finally learnt to ski.
Despite falls and injuries, I kept trying and improving. Within three months, I went from learning how to properly stand on my skies to making 180 turns and doing jumps. I started on the flat spot where I could barely stop myself once I kept going to doing black diamond trails. In the beginning I was not allowed to ski with Ski & Ride, the basic and easiest team, but by the end of the season I improved so much that my coaches wanted me to compete this year. In addition, skiing became one of my most favorite sports after soccer.
I am very lucky to be at Gould Academy. I have had lots of opportunities to explore both in academic areas and in extracurricular activities. After I learnt and enjoyed skiing, I decided to try new sports. I knew that stepping outside my comfort zone could be risky and challenging but it could also be very fun. That is why I decided to try more sports from my list that were completely unknown to me. I played baseball last spring, and I am snowboarding now.