My name is Linda, I use she/her pronouns, and I’m from South Seattle. I graduated from Garfield High School in 2020 and now attend Pomona College in Claremont, California. I’m intending to major in Politics and currently work for King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay, Nikkita Oliver’s campaign for Seattle City Council, the Statewide Poverty Action Network, and Strive for College. I also interned with the Washington Bus earlier this year. I was a tSB Prophet in 2017 and a Peer Leader in 2018. I did SLIP in 2018 and 2019.
I wanted to attend snowboarding camp because I hadn’t shredded since I left tSB. As a low-income student, lift tickets weren’t affordable despite me having all of the gear I needed from tSB. I missed snowboarding a lot and wanted the opportunity to return. Snowboarding camp was the best opportunity to get back into it as well as meet new people.
My experience at camp was great! I had so much fun snowboarding—despite being incredibly sore after Day 2—and I got so close with the girls in my cabin. The food was so good and there was always so much to do with the skatepark, watching people do tricks on the dry slopes, and trampolining. However, it was hard being a low-income Asian camper around so many wealthy white people. I learned of racist remarks being made to another Asian camper and no action being taken by the camp staff. It was incredibly disappointing and I felt like the safety campers of color was being ignored and unprioritized. I wish there had been a concrete course of action to prevent instances like these and protect campers of color.Despite the negatives, I gained a lot from my experience at snowboarding camp. I had never hit the park during my time at tSB, so it was fun trying new things and tricks despite falling one too many times. I would definitely recommend this camp to other youth who love snowboarding. I absolutely hope tSB continues this opportunity so more tSBoarders are able to snowboard at Mt. Hood. Thank you tSB and High Cascade for the amazing time at camp!
tSB has spoken with our scholarship partners and youth regarding the experiences at camp this summer and we will continue this dialogue. We take great pride in the leadership exhibited by our youth and take seriously the evaluation of their experience. Through our programs we promote a culture of inclusivity, vulnerability and transparency, all of which were modeled by our youth in this situation.
Based on this feedback, tSB, We Are Camp, and CAPiTA have recommitted to providing these opportunities – with continual evaluation and improvement – to achieve our collective goal of making snowsports accessible and safe for BIPoC and other under-resourced communities.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us.
In community,
tSB Staff
