KAMLOOPS – Top TRU student Carly Thorp will take to the mountaintops this winter when she represents BC in the parallel giant slalom snowboarding event at the Canada Winter Games, to be held in Whitehorse, Yukon, Feb. 24 through Mar.10 next year, when snowboarding will be debuting as a demonstration sport.
The TRU Ambassador Entrance Award winner, who has been a top scholar-athlete since high school, winning athletic achievement and sportsmanship blocks for soccer and snowboarding as well as the Principal’s Award for grade twelve academics when she graduated from Nakusp Secondary School last June, has also been selected to the BC Snowboard Cross team and will be training at Sun Peaks and Big White and then attending BC and Alberta races, including Nor-Am Cup events.
The first-year business student is already a teacher, with CASI Level 1 snowboard instructor certification. After earning her a bachelor degree in business administration, Thorp plans to apply it to one of her many fields of interest, likely human resource management for non-profit organizations or snowboarding events, teams or organizations.
The Ambassador’s Entrance Scholarship, open to all new first-year degree and diploma program applicants from across Canada who have not previously attended a college or university, recognizes academic excellence, leadership and community service. Students offered the award also accept the responsibility of some level of participation in representing the university at specific activities during the academic year.
That shouldn’t be a problem. The young snowboarding scholar, who also represented her province last March at the Snowboardcross Nationals in Quebec, has a history of volunteerism. She has been a director on the Arrow Lakes Youth Society board, taking part in establishing or maintaining programs like the Summer Youth Drama program, the Annual Skateboard/BMX Competition, polar bear swims and other community endeavours. She was also a member of her high school’s Student Voice, a group that made the student body aware of healthy life choices and provided them with opportunities to make such choices.
“Attending Thompson Rivers University gives me the opportunity to represent a whole new group of exciting, creative and exceptional people and their community and being in Kamloops allows me to be closer to my sister, niece and nephew,” she said.
Once she gets to the Yukon this winter, Thorp will be closer to another member of her family: younger brother Alex will also be competing with her at the Canada Winter Games.
A photo of Carly while snowboarding is available at: http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h6/Psukan/snowboard_prov.jpg
