For the love of something ...

If you follow the 650 Blog, you know that the last post, written by Molly Lavin (2017), was about how difficult it can be to bear the heavy weight of expectations as you make your way through high school and college. In some ways, this post written by Colin Grey could serve as a companion piece.

While Molly focuses on all of the questions, conflicts, and considerations that go into your plans for the future, Colin takes a different approach. Basically, he says the same thing that Paul Dano says to Steve Carell standing at the end of the pier in “Little Miss Sunshine”: “Do what you love and f. the rest.” Here, Colin sounds his unique clarion call for embracing your passion and clinging to it like your life depended upon it.  Just make sure to bring an ice axe and crampons.

Colin was in my writing and hiking interim class five years and I can attest to the fact that the dude climbs like a mountain goat. It is hardly a surprise to me that he has made a life and career out of the outdoors. At the University of Colorado, Colin joined the cycling team and raced both mountain and road bikes. After graduating, he moved to Park City, Utah, where he works as a ski patroller for the Park City Mountain Resort.

Colin’s essay starts with a realization. “My post is about how I realized that my main goal in life was just to be happy and have fun. I think it is mostly a response to someone who once told me that ‘life isn’t all about having fun,’ something I passionately disagreed with then and still disagree with today.”

- C.H.

Unlike many of my high school classmates, I don’t go to work wearing business casual khakis and leather shoes. My work attire is Gore-Tex and plastic ski boots, and instead of morning traffic in a big city, most of my commute is made by chairlift. I chose a very different path than most of my classmates, and every day I am grateful I did. This week I will ski every day, spend about 65 hours in ski boots, treat and transport a handful of injured skiers. I’ll probably even get to throw a couple bombs to trigger avalanches if it snows enough. I have my dream job.

While I was a student at the University of Colorado, I am unashamed to say that I spent a lot more time skiing, riding bikes, rock climbing, and all the other Colorado clichés than I did studying. The problem was that I never really enjoyed school as much as I did climbing or skiing before class. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed my English major, but I also saw a lot of value in experiences outside of school. After my freshman year of college, I spent a month in the backcountry of the Yukon with NOLS, and this experience taught me a lot about myself and who I wanted to be. Most importantly, I found activities that I loved and wanted to incorporate into my regular life.

I started hanging out with climbers who taught me how to build anchors hundreds of feet off the ground and place gear to protect myself from a fall. After a couple years I had climbed my first wall over a thousand feet. I took an avalanche class then pushed my friends to do the same so that we could ski in Colorado’s awesome backcountry. I got certified as a Wilderness First Responder and later an EMT, partly so that I could feel comfortable hours away from hospital care in the wilderness and partly because I always found medicine really interesting.

I loved all of these activities and pushed my own limits in each endeavor. Eventually, I figured out that I could turn these sports that I loved into a way to make some money, and I got my first outdoor job as a backpacking guide for kids. I was able to lead ten-day backpacking trips for kids in Colorado’s Indian Peaks Wilderness then later be in charge of that whole program.

Throughout college, I knew people who worked hard doing things they hated doing with the idea that they would have a good job at the end. Now, those same people have good jobs (making a lot more money than I do) that they hate. In my opinion, there is no point in having a good job that your parents can brag about if you dread going to work every day. Instead of pursuing things that would lead to a decent paying job after college, I did the things that I loved and it always led to a job that I loved.

I am not trying to talk anyone out of pursuing a career that interests them, but I certainly wish that I had learned earlier that it was possible to turn passions into a career. I thought that I had to pick from a predetermined set of careers, and when I was in high school I talked myself into wanting to be a doctor. When I got to college I realized I didn’t want to do what it took to be a doctor and didn’t enjoy the required classes at all. Now I get to do all the things I love about medicine as a first responder and I get to ski more than a hundred days a year.

My best advice for those of you in high school and early in your college career is to keep an open mind. Don’t box yourself in early on.  Try a lot of different things -- and find something you love. It could be anything, from something academic to a sport or just a hobby you do on the side, but find that something you love and hold on to it. I am in a way different place then I thought I would be when I graduated from high school more than six years ago, but I am way better for it.

P.S. If you are ever in Park City, Utah and want to ski, mountain bike, or fly fish, get in touch with
me and I’ll show you around.