Snowboarding has been one of my favorite things to do for as long as I can remember. I love snowboarding because of how free it makes me feel. If I'm ever too stressed or have too much on my mind, speeding down the mountain sliding smoothly across the soft snow washes it all away. I also do snowboarding competitions where I am racing up to 3 other people down a course. Sometimes I am very scared and nervous about the race, but the second the gate drops and the race starts, I forget all about that and feel free and focused.

 All season I had been training and getting ready for nationals in Colorado. I was very excited to go later in the year because of how hard I had been working for it all year. One day, after a competition, my dad and I decided to take a few laps in the park so I could show my dad how I was getting better at rails and jumps. The first few laps went well but I cant say the same about the second time. The second time started fine, sliding down the first box in a boardslide that I was happy with, but I was over confident for the next box. I jumped off the lip and landed perfectly on the box. I could hear the board sliding smoothly across it; however, nearing the end of the box I lost balanced and my board slipped off the end of the box. I landed on the tough snow with my arm tangled behind me. I had taken lots of simple falls like this before, so I got right back on my feet and kept riding. All of a sudden a shot of pain hit my arm. I immediately knew something was wrong. My mind was flooded with thoughts worried about what had just happened. I kneeled down and yelled for my dad and I remember my dad saying, “It better not be broken.” After establishing that I wasn't able to move it, we called ski patrol and after the longest 10 minutes of my life, worried about what they would say, the ski patrol arrived and helped me down to the emergency clinic. 

At the emergency clinic, after struggling to take all my layers off and a few very painful x rays later, they determined that my arm, specifically my humorous, was in fact broken. As the doctor spoke those words I realized that I would not be able to snowboard for the rest of the season and even worse I would not be able to go to nationals. Nationals were what I was getting ready for all season and it hurt knowing that I would not be able to go after working so hard and setting high expectations for myself.

Lying in the operating room with the doctors prepping for the surgery I was flooded with emotions. What if something went wrong? What if my arm never heals? The last thing I remember being asked was if I wanted medicine to calm my nerves and then as if no time had past, I woke up in a hospital bed with a metal plate, 9 screws, and the familiar faces of my parents standing next to me.

After a few weeks of doing physical therapy, I was finally able to do the things I enjoy doing like biking, skateboarding, and being able to be active again. Breaking my arm made me realize that I shouldn’t be taking the things I did every day that I took for granted. Although I worked very hard to go to nationals and was not able to go due to a small mistake I learned that anything can happen in life and I should always be ready for what comes next