SBA student-athletes were treated to a virtual visit from two-time Olympic skier and former NFL player Jeremy Bloom at Monday's All School Meeting.
Bloom Skyped with our students from his office in San Francisco, fielding questions about his mogul-skiing days, juggling academics and athletics as a high school and collegiate student-athlete, and the connection between the commitment required to be a successful athlete and his success with his most recent business ventures.
His virtual visit came about thanks in part to a student-led effort to create a guest-speaker series on campus. Senior Brian Francis has taken the lead now in successfully scheduling two guest speakers, the first being Janet Hardy (mother of SBA's Elise, '14), manager of the U.S. Army's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory. Hardy visited our campus in the fall to talk to our student-athletes about how a love for skiing and snow put her on the career path that led her to study snow and ice for the U.S. government at its Hanover, N.H. laboratory. Click HERE to learn more about Hardy's visit.
Francis said that the idea of an All School Meeting Skype session with Bloom was born when the two met at a U.S. Ski Team fundraising event in San Francisco late last fall.
"I heard he was going to be at the fundraiser and was incredibly excited, because I knew about him balancing football and skiing, something I had tried to do early in my high school career," said Francis.
"I think that what the students really took away from his talk is what is capable in the world if one is really determined..., and the idea that the only way to succeed is to fail, but to learn from those failures."
On behalf of the entire SBA community, The Fighting Marmot thanks Mr. Bloom for his engaging virtual visit.
