K.C. STOAKLEY: Balancing life, school, and professional skiing...

Noisy football stadiums and rowdy tailgaters, miserable all-nighters cramming, jam-packed rooms of college students, smells of sweat and beer-stained rugs, techno music you can’t resist dancing to, sorority rush, beer pong tournaments, and some arguably inappropriate outfits – these are many of the memories that mark my college years. College is, in fact, the only time when these loud and mildly depraved behaviors seem acceptable. But although these types of memories stand out, they aren’t the only ones that should make a lasting impression. College was, for me, as for many others, a time I really figured ME out. The benefits of attending (and furthermore, graduating) college are numerous.

Cal game daze.

Though it was always my dream to make the U.S. Ski Team, going to college, getting an awesome education, and having that cliché experience as I described above was something I wasn’t willing to miss out on. The fact that I am a college graduate on the U.S. Ski Team has caught a lot of attention. A few years back, I was asked to write an email that generally answered, “How the heck did you do it?” The email became somewhat infamous in the freestyle skiing community, and because I get several requests for it every year, I’ve decided to post the complete, original email here (names changed), so that everyone can have access to it. I love that I can help athletes, who are considering balancing college and skiing in this way.

On top of the numerous advantages of going to college, I also got so much better at skiing during these years because I used the off time to focus on training. I made the U.S. Ski Team when I was 22-years-old (which some consider old), but I had already graduated from college. I believe it boosted my overall confidence and set me ahead of many members on the team in terms of skiing mindset. And, because I had graduated, I was also able to complete my graduate degree under the U.S. Ski Team-Westminster College partnership and have been granted many mentorship and job opportunities. It's hard work, and lots of give-and-take balancing everything, but absolutely worth it. Skiing is the s**t, but so is college and all these other cool experiences I've had because of it! If you can do it all, I definitely recommend it!

The email is a novel - I hope it helps anyone considering balancing school with competitive skiing (or any sport for that matter)!

Original email:

Part of Stew's original question was about if I had taken a semester off from college and if I thought it was possible for Brooke to compete on a whole NorAm tour while at school...

So, I did take some semesters off while I was in college. Cal is a semester school, which really wasn't conducive for skiing. I'll explain the way I did things a bit in depth here, but I will also say that my way may not be for everyone and sometimes I think I was a bit crazy to have done it the way I did. Brooke is also different from me in that she is a much more talented skier than I was at that age.

Anyway, for my freshman year of college, I actually jumped the gun and took 2 classes the summer before I "started college" (this was in anticipation of skiing). I also attended full time, all year. Full time at Cal was considered 13 units. I know units vary from college to college, but 13 was full time, 15 was average, 21 units was max per semester, and to graduate you had to have a total of 120 units (with all major/breadth requirements met). This was important for me to know moving forward. I'd encourage Brooke to figure out the same stuff. Freshman year, for me, was a lot about taking breadth courses and figuring out what majors I might be interested in. I took 15 units my first semester. I'll note that this semester and every fall semester while I was in school, I had to tell my professors right away that I would miss the finals due to the U.S. Selections event. I would always go to their first "office hours" they provided and let them know. Most were understanding (especially when you play the wanting to make the U.S. Ski Team and Olympics card), but some had no interest in making separate plans, which meant I had to drop the class and find a different one to take. The teachers who were understanding would reschedule the final for me so that I could take it before having to leave for Selections. At Cal, our finals week was always the week of Selections. For second semester, I planned my schedule so that I would only have classes on Tuesday through Thursday. That way, I could take long weekends in Tahoe for training. Because of the constraints, I had to give up some classes I preferred to classes that fit into my schedule. It's all give-and-take if you want to balance skiing and school. So, I'd ski Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and then usually leave Monday for homework. I took the bare minimum of units (13) because I was busy with skiing. I only skied one NorAm this year, but I should add that it was also only my second NorAm ever. I got a lot better with the training I did. If Brooke is debating whether doing a full NorAm Tour will hurt her, it is really hard to say, but the first time I ever did a full NorAm tour was my senior year of college (and I had actually already graduated, as I'll explain). Now that I am on the team too, I can't say how much I'd appreciate a year of focused training. So much emphasis is put on competition, but we never have the time to truly dedicate ourselves to training. My teammates and I have all talked about how nice it would be to do exactly that.

Cal had several summer sessions. I always committed myself to the session that only lasted 6 weeks. I took 9-10 units. Honestly, it was hell, but hell for only 6 weeks. Class would typically start at 8am and go until about 4pm. I would typically be doing homework until 1am and then sleep and do it all over. This was Monday through Friday. This was BY FAR the hardest part[s] of my college education. It was exhausting and very hard to stay committed, but I knew it paid off. In just 6 weeks time, I completed a bunch of units, and I still had the rest of the summer to train for skiing, travel, and just enjoy the regular summer activities. SO worth it!

Sophomore year was interesting because I actually thought I was going to quit skiing because I was loving college so much and the Squaw team had kind of fallen apart. I know Brooke fought with the decision to quit as well. I finally realized how upset about this decision I was though, and last minute joined the Vail team because my friend skied out there. In order to do this, I knew I had to take a semester off. I had completed about another 18 units during the fall semester. I found that Cal, being a big, public school, did not care about me taking off semesters at all. So long that you were in good standing as a student when you left, all you would have to do is re-apply when you wanted to come back, and they'd let you back in. So I took off the spring semester, moved to CO, and did a couple more NorAms that season, but still mainly focused on training. After skiing, I moved back home in the spring and took an online course that could transfer to Cal as one of my breadth requirements. Another thing I suggest is to talk to the school counselors/advisors. They were horrible at Cal (I think because of the big, public school thing again), but I did learn one important thing from them. There is a website online (I wish I could remember its name) where you can find out all the courses from all schools (online and physical) that are transferrable to your own school. This helped me find classes to take in my free time in the spring or if classes weren't available at Cal. I took 4 transferrable classes online over the course of college. And again, this summer, I took another 9-10 units during the 6 weeks summer session.

By junior year, I had figured out that I couldn't be a business major like I had planned if I wanted to continue skiing (again, it's give-and-take). This was because they only offered some of the required classes in the spring semester. After looking into a bunch of different majors that I thought I'd be interested in or form into some kind of business-like study, I decided on psychology with an emphasis in business communications because it worked well with my ski schedule and seemed enjoyable. I figured there was always graduate school for the Master's in Business Administration. So this is where I got a little crazy. Since I was finally committed to skiing, I knew I had to take a bunch of units to graduate on time. I took 21 units this fall semester. This took a lot of planning on my own (like I said, the advisors sucked) because I had to make sure I was meeting all of the major requirements, and, at Cal, many classes are hard to get into because they are in such high demand. I wish I could remember another website that was super helpful (one may be "ratemyprofessor"). I used this website to find filler classes, or electives that will get you the units towards graduation. On these websites, you can find interesting classes and a lot of information about the professors. Because I was so busy with my heavy course load, I looked for professors that were easy. Taking classes in which I knowingly could get an A majorly lightened the load! I also used it to find elective business classes since that is the major I would have originally chosen. I skied back at Squaw this season because Colorado was too cold for me (I’m pathetic) and the team had somewhat reformed. I traveled with Park City to a couple NorAms, but again, mainly trained and competed in regionals. This spring, I took another online course that transferred.

This summer was hard because half way into the 6 week summer session (I was again taking 9-10 units), my friend got sick. I was going to move out to Park City after school was done, but I decided instead to stay with her. Because of this, I actually got 2 more classes done over this summer. Summers were nice because classes that were required for your major were easier to get into.

By the time that senior year came around, I realized that with the extra classes from summer, I only had a few requirements and units left to fulfill. I ended up taking 10 units at Cal and my language requirement online. I took my language requirement online because the classes were in high demand at Cal and known to be hard. I am not a language-minded person. So, I graduated that December...in 3 and a half years! After I graduated, I moved out to Park City, joined PC Free, and skied my first ever full NorAm tour.

This is a novel, but I know how much I wish I had had some guidance. My main suggestion is to PLAN. Look up all the unit and major requirements. Look into all the class options. Talk with your professors. Don't think that taking classes at your college is the only way. AND ENJOY COLLEGE! Brooke should enjoy her freshman year. At times she may feel like she's falling behind in skiing, but she'll be getting much more from balancing her lifestyle than committing fully to one or the other. And, I was never expected to make the team. There is always this talk of the "next person." The people in college are never suspected, but college gave me a great mental advantage over the other competitors when I started skiing full time.

So, yes, I did take a semester off in college. Several, in fact. 21 units in a fall semester was a lot, but I actually found that I work better when I am busy. Everything was well-scheduled and it didn't allow for any procrastination. College really is the "best 4 years of your life." I made my best friends. I partied. I experienced things I won't experience anywhere else but in college. I had so much fun! This stuff happens naturally, but on top of getting an education, these factors are exactly why I encourage skiers to go to college.

Brooke should and can do whatever she finds best balances her life between school and skiing. She's done it well so far! I spoke to my teammate about this a lot in Hood this summer. She seemed to think the full NorAm tour would work out. She explained it to me, but I also haven't seen the NorAm schedule. I think it could definitely be doable, but I also know how much I'd appreciate a full season of training at this point in my ski career. It will make her so much better.

Please pass along my words, and remind her that I can help her any time.