College didn't teach me everything

Over the years I have used my Exercise Biology degree from the University of California, Davis in various unorthodox ways. I use it daily in my bobsled training to get bigger, faster and stronger. Or at least this is how I justify the investment to my parents.  There are, however, many times I wonder about all the things I did not learn in college.  Some times I look around and wonder what the heck I am doing and what in the world would have prepared me for my life now.  Most would think I am talking about sliding down and icy mountain at 80 plus miles per hour on a daily basis, but what I am really talking about is the before, after and everything in between.

The behind the scenes work for a bobsled brakeman is definitely not glamorous.  We are responsible for much of the sled work and for transporting the sled to and from the track each day of training.  Never did I think my life would consist of driving a manual sled truck in the snowy French Alps. Or did I think that learning how to put chains on would be imperative in transporting sleds in the bobsled world. I often wonder if the snow chain course was in the UCD course manual next to the tractor driving class I always meant to take but never got the chance too.

Fortunately, I have a father that required his girls to first pass the "Azevedo driving test" before we were able to actually get our drivers license. This test included being fully proficient in driving a stick shift vehicle up and down the windy 20 mile road to Paradise, California which has been incredibly useful.  The test, however failed to include the snow and every detail that is involved with it.  Being from California this was never something that I have had to be familiar with, but in bobsled it is something that I constantly deal with.  Over the last 7 years I have been forced to learn the ins and outs of driving in the snow, but still every now and again the California driver in me comes out and we have to push the truck out of a snow bank…. 

When I move on with my life and am done with bobsled I am confident that I will be able to accomplish any thing life throws at me.  I have learned that it may be scary at first, but with practice and the willingness to learn anything is possible.  Heck, I may even be able to teach the snow chain 101 course at UCD. 

Believe it or not this was actually not my doing!  At least we all know how to push!