Four years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer, what a surprise. I have always been healthy and active and felt I took care of myself. Our family had no history of breast cancer and I was rarely sick. Fortunately, it was caught early, after a couple of surgeries and chemo and radiation all was good. I was on my road back to recovery and gaining my strength and fitness back. My job had been getting more and more stressful over that last few years, I did not realize how much this had affected my health. A year after coming back to work full time and reclaiming my health I realized this is not where I should be. So I left my position…not sure what I would be doing next. I kept my mind and heart open and started building a career on things I love to do. I teach skiing part time in Pennsylvania and part time in Colorado in the winter. In the summer I work for a company in the Delaware Water National Park that sponsors Road Scholar programs, Educational travel and learning vacations. This has opened up a whole new career opportunities for me guiding hiking, biking and river trips. I decided I want to help people stay healthy and active and live life to the fullest. I recently finished a 200 hour yoga teaching training certification and plan to incorporate that into my skiing and guiding.
When I left my job I was not sure of my direction, but as I keep my mind open to new adventures, new doors keep opening for me. I believe that being a Trail Walking Ambassador for Tubbs will open another opportunity for me to help people enjoy the outdoors in the winter. I have met a lot of people over the summer that would like to do more recreation outside in the winter but can’t afford or maybe afraid of skiing. I think snowshoeing is for everyone, it is simple and inexpensive and can be done most anywhere there is snow. I love doing the hiking trips and it would be great to do some of the same hikes with snowshoes. Maybe Road Scholars will start a snowshoeing program too!