John Arnold

To feel passionate is to feel an abundance of enthusiasm. Passion is love. Passion is where your heart lives. For me, my passion has always resided at the top of snow covered mountains with a snowboard firmly latched to my feet, an extension of myself. Snowboarding, in my mind, is a form of escapism unlike any other. You are transported to a world far away from your problems where even the tough reality of falling from great heights is padded by snow drenched banks. It is ironic to feel the world melt away in the distance in the most frigid of environments, but it is a feeling every snowboarder knows.

As I move forward with my life as a student at the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts, I still hold onto my passion for snowboarding. While others around me long for the beach going weather of the summer, I pine for the winter when I feel my heart come to life. I’ve been asked many times over the years what it is that I hope to do with my life. What will I do with my Operations Management degree? What is my dream job? Where do I want to live? For a long time the immense pressure of the future frightened me and I wished to feel the endless freedom afforded by snowboarding’s escapism. Suddenly, though, it dawned on me that my passion may be an answer to the all the questions which swam in my mind.

Although I am by no means an engineer, I know the fiberglass exteriors that houses the wood and metal hearts of snowboards like the back of my hand. Although I am not marketing executive, the passion I feel for snowboards and snowboarding makes me want to expand any brand associated with the sport. What do I want to do with an Operations Management degree, they asked. I answer: I want to one day help oversee the production and distribution of snowboarding merchandise, a product that I love. My dream job involves working for a business that I can identify with, that understands the risk and reward mentality that defines the most insane of snowboarders, be it in the form of large company such as Burton or a small company such as Grenade. And where do I want to live, they asked. I answer: somewhere snowy.