The parable of the snowboarder

At eighteen I had already mapped out my life.

I would graduate, go to the local college, work in the family business as a dental assistant, meet a great guy, fall in love, get married, have babies, the end. That was my life.

Being a snowboard instructor wasn’t making sense for my well laid out plan.

Yes it sounded fun. Yes I wanted to work with my friend. But I had never taught anything in my life. I had no idea how to interact with adults or young kids. I didn’t know how I could even show people how to snowboard.

I was coming up with all of the reasons this wasn’t going to work. Luckily, while I was finding all of the reasons to say no, my friend took it upon herself to apply for me. Several weeks later I had the job.

Getting that job did two things for me. First it made me have a small belief that maybe I could be the type of cool person that was a snowboard instructor. It gave me that glimmer of hope that I could be someone who was doing something that was a dream of mine.

Second, it made me question my life plan and really think about who I thought I was supposed to become.

I had no idea the benefits for my life that being a snowboard instructor would bring me. I learned how to connect with all sorts of people of different ages, abilities, and backgrounds.

I learned how to teach a skill and adjust it to where my clients needs were. I learned to asses needs! I learned how to have conversations with strangers. I learned how to ask open ended questions and listen intently to what was being said. I became open to seeing different ways of living and experiencing life.

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