My name is Lindsay Mitchell and I am a business student here at Elmira College. I grew up in Maryland in a town right next to the capital, Annapolis. I have lived in the same house my whole life, right on the water. I live on a little lake called Lake Placid that branches out into the Magothy River and the Chesapeake Bay. The water has always been a big part of my life. When I was born after I was released from the hospital the first place I was taken was to our families sailboat to see my dad. My family owns a variety of boats: a small motor boat, a laser, an opti, a rowboat, a rowing shell, windsurfers, and the best of all a J/35 sailboat. One thing my entire family has in common is a love for sailing, but my dad takes the lead. We participate in Wednesday night races on the Magothy and weekend overnight races out in the Bay to places such as the Baltimore Inner Harbor and Oxford. Our crew consisted mostly of people my mom and dad had met through work along with my brother and I. My job was usually fore deck and all the bow work because I was the lightest and would have less of an impact moving around when we were racing. Again being the lightest, if something went wrong on the mast or we lost a halyard, I would be hoisted in the boatsman chair all the way to the top of the mast mid race to retrieve it. I have had many thrilling experiences thanks to these races, as my dad enjoys sailing in all weather conditions, except when there is no wind. I have also raced in small boats myself and been a sailing instructor at the Annapolis Sailing School. Here I was able to instruct a group of kids ranging from age eight to sixteen about sailing. We would take them out on the Severn River right near the Naval Academy everyday for a sail in a smaller boat called a Barnett. They always enjoyed the sail but really took interest in the days we let them capsize and go for a swim or sail into Ego Alley and walk downtown for some ice cream. Go figure.

When I'm not out racing my family and I often take the boat out just for a sail or to one of the coves in the river to anchor and lay out and swim. Summer is my favorite time of year as I love being out in the sun, on the boat or at the beach. During the summer I always spend at least a week at the beach with my family. I'd have to say that the beach is my favorite place to be. It's somewhere I can relax, really enjoy myself, and just get away from everything for a bit. My family is a pretty interesting bunch so its always a memorable experience. Sometimes I'll go out with just my friends on my sailboat and spend a night or two out there on our own. Some of our other friends will come out and raft up and we will go wakeboarding and tubing. It wasn't until the past summer I was allowed to do this all on my own. My mom has always been a bit concerned about just me out on our 35 foot sailboat with a bunch of teenages. Its not all that easy to maneuver, especially when backing the boat into the slip and tracking the depth at it requires at least seven feet of water, but I've gotten the hang of it.

 

I went to high school in Maryland until my junior year when I was invited to attend the North American Hockey Academy (NAHA) in Stowe, Vermont to play ice hockey. This was quite a change for me in the competitiveness of the game and the environment altogether. Living in Maryland my whole life I was used to warmer weather. Snow was pretty much out of the question, and if there was a chance we did get any then school was out for well lets say about a week. My first year in Vermont we had a record breaking blizzard, what a way to get used to the snow. Living in Vermont for six months each year for two years showed me how much more I enjoy the warmth. However this school allowed me advantages that other prep schools did not. Here I was able to attend my regular high school up until the beginning of October, and return following hockey season in March. I was a three sport athlete at the time and went from season to season and state to state.

It was nice to always be able to come home to Maryland for the warm seasons though and get to see all my friends again. This setting significantly helped prepare me for college. Having already conquered learning to do my own laundry and living away from home, I was pretty much set. There was another huge difference between school at home and NAHA that I struggled with.. NAHA was only the team living together and we were basically home school with one on one tutoring. In case you didn't catch on that meant all girls. Don't get me wrong sometimes its just fun to hang out with the girls, but the drama can get to be a bit much. From that perspective I enjoy college much more. Here I get a bit of everything. I met my best friend here, its not all girls, I can play competitive ice hockey, and I can also play lacrosse for fun.