MY STORY:

• The Brighton Resort gears up for the 2019-20 ski season

MY BLOG:

This story developed from a hobby that I recently picked up: skiing.

I met somebody in 2018 who is very passionate about skiing, and he told me I should give it a try, so I did. I instantly loved it. This story idea developed as I was making goals and thinking about this upcoming ski season. I thought it would be interesting to focus on a ski resort, and learn more about the behind-the-scenes aspects of it and culture that has come out of it. My story had two main focuses: Brighton Ski Resort’s preparation for the ski season, and ski culture in Utah. I tried to connect these two ideas because I didn’t want the whole story to be focused on just one part of it. The skeleton of this story is Brighton’s preparations, and the heart is the ski culture.

When it comes to writing, I like to write as much as I can to begin with. I like to trust my gut at first, and write in the style that I keep hearing the story being told in my head. Usually that ends up being a big pile of words and random sentences, but that’s when the revising comes in.

Through this project I’ve come to make peace with revising. It’s now something I can get lost in and find myself doing for hours, which I’ve never really done before. I always thought that what I first said was good enough. I still believe in “spilling your heart” in writing, or free-writing as much as you can, but polishing is good and necessary. You always want your message to be clear.  

My sources came from people I thought would give me good insight into the different aspects of what skiing is in Utah, at different levels. The biggest obstacle I faced was scheduling time with my sources. When I think about it now, it’s actually very reflective of my experience learning how to ski for the first time. At times I felt frustrated because I thought it would be much simpler than it was. I wanted to scrap the whole thing and find something else to do. However, in writing and in skiing, persistence is key. Even if you lose your balance, you’ve got to just get back up, because it’s the only way to get down the mountain.

ABOUT ME:

I am a communication major with an emphasis in strategic communication at the University of Utah. I grew up with a love for the performing arts, film, and photography. I also enjoy writing, and took COMM 1610: Intro to News Writing to gain a different kind of writing experience. After graduation I hope to travel to new places and work in a communications field, either marketing or public relations. I plan to graduate Spring 2021.