The S-KEY to Perseverance: The Uphill Struggle of a Downhill Skier

Articles, Community, Sports
February 13, 2023
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By Melody Tang and Grace Wang
ONLINE EDITOR AND STAFF WRITER

Andover High School senior Bori Kim sees her skiing career not only as an enjoyable activity, but also as an activity of persevering through and overcoming mental hurdles.

At five years old, Kim was taught the basics of skiing by her father in Korea. Kim’s love for skiing has only grown stronger since, and it has blossomed into one of her biggest passions. “I really enjoy skiing,” stated Kim. “I just love the feeling of carving though the slopes… it feels invigorating.”

COURTESTY PHOTO / Bori Kim
Bori Kim takes to the slopes and participates in a ski race.

During the ski season, Kim races for two teams: the Andover High School ski team and a club ski team located in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. Since she skis for two different ski teams, Kim makes sure to practice with both teams. Every weekend, she makes the two-hour drive to New Hampshire to practice with the Waterville ski team. Additionally, Kim practices with the AHS ski team at Bradford in Haverhill during the week.

However, with most of her practices taking place at Waterville, Kim said that’s helped her improve the most, as she’s spent the most time working on her skills at Waterville. Along with practicing on her own, she skis with coaches who instruct her on the correct technique and mental attitude.

Nevertheless, Kim loves being part of the AHS ski team as well. There are thirty people on the AHS team who race: fifteen on varsity and fifteen on JV. “The [Andover] ski team is pretty welcoming,” Kim emphasized. Compared to Waterville, Kim sees the AHS team as “very low stress and not that competitive… It’s just a fun time.”

Although ski racing may look simple, there are multiple layers to it. Like all sports, there are many rules and techniques. The goal is to take the shortest amount of time skiing around poles known as “gates.” There are multiple forms of courses, including slalom and giant slalom, in which the gates are placed in a certain S-shaped way.

During the year, one major race is the Interscholastic Ski Race, where only the top eight skiers from each high school team in the region can qualify. Being one of the top racers in the AHS ski team, Kim has gone to the Interscholastics since freshman year.

The U.S. Ski & Snowboard (USSA) is another important event for Kim. In USSA, there is a point system in which everyone starts with 999 points, and points get deducted for doing well every race. The goal at the end is to have the least amount of points. For the last couple of years, Kim has worked hard towards her goal of excelling during races. Training every week of ski season, she constantly makes efforts to improve her skill.

Although fun, racing can be a daunting experience. Going down one by one, ski racers are often met with a crowd of spectators waiting at the bottom. While racers get multiple attempts down a route during training, they must face only one attempt in races. Since skiing is an independent sport, the fear of making mistakes while racing makes anxiety among racers quite common. “It’s hard for anyone to just not have [anxiety],” stated Kim.

“[During races] I’m a little bit jittery and… my heart is always racing,” Kim said. As it is harder to focus on technique when nervous, she’s frustrated that she never does as well as she hopes. Her ski race times never seem to match her practice times. Despite this, Kim works hard on doing better each race. With an optimistic mindset, she fights to overcome race anxiety, incorporating tips from her ski instructors at Waterville.

When it comes to skills, Kim has learned more than how to ace the slopes. Along with perfecting her ski technique, a huge portion of her growth has come mentally. “Perseverance and endurance,” she explained. Skiing has taught Kim to be a mentally tough person who doesn’t waver in the face of failure. Even when she doesn’t do as well as she likes, she picks herself up and has taught herself to keep striving for success. “I’ve learned to overcome the fact that maybe I don’t get the ribbons and awards at every race—and that’s okay,” said Kim.

Andoverview

AHS Class of 2026 Graduation: A Sentiment of Gratitude

June 11, 2026

Abby Chachus & Kendall Murphy || STAFF WRITERS

A hush falls as a sea of navy gowns, a rising tide of Andover High School graduates enters the Tsongas Center just before 5 o’clock on June 1, 2026. There is something distinct about moments like these. A goodbye that is bittersweet among both the audience and the seniors.

According to Graduation Committee member Ella Murphy, it is a goodbye to “Halloween costume competitions that never disappoint, lunches, wrap lines and vending machine trips,” seemingly inconsequential things, but the memories will stick with all of the students as they move on to their future endeavors.

The graduation speakers shared the value of these moments and their gratitude for the people that helped them along the way. As the ceremony commenced, the opening speakers Zachery Pan and Murphy welcomed everyone and encouraged them to acknowledge their shared experiences at Andover High School. “These moments, these memories, these faces. None of us got here alone.” said Pan.

Their speech gave time to deliver some truly meaningful thank you’s, “beyond the formalities” as Murphy put it, to the teachers and staff that showed up each day with “patience, support, and dedication.” Furthermore, they recognized that this gratitude is not solely meant for the significant ceremonies.

“Gratitude is kind of strange. We tend to save it for the big moments. The ceremonies, the stages, the audiences,” said Murphy.

“But let’s be honest—the people who actually changed your life probably weren’t standing on a stage when they did it,” continued Pan.

They concluded the speech with a request to the graduates to thank those who changed their lives in both the big and small moments, even if it feels unnecessary.

Before graduation, other seniors expressed similar thoughts, like reflecting on the journey that got them to where they are today.

“To all my teachers: thank you for everything. I would not be here without any single one of you.” said Christopher Reardon.

Thomas Enman advised underclassmen to “just enjoy every little minute you get at AHS.”

Vignesha Jayakumar, class essayist and valedictorian, echoed this same sentiment of appreciation, reinforcing Reardon’s message about the lasting impact of teachers and support systems. “We were galvanized from a community of supportive teachers and staff who didn’t just teach us subjects, they taught us how to think, how to question, how to care,” said Jayakumar.

He also mentioned the importance of one learning from their fellow graduates. “We learned as much from each other in the hallways and the bleachers as we did in the classroom,” he said.

After Jayakumar, Graduation Committee members Ben Pelt and Kari Belson spoke. First, Pelt announced the Class of 2026’s class gift to AHS. Next, Belson named Scott Armstrong the 2026 Distinguished Citizen (see page 4).

When Principal Jimmy D’Andrea took the stage, he, like all the other speakers, expressed the value of gratitude, a central theme that resonated throughout the ceremony. He began by thanking each group that got each member of the graduating class to where they were standing in the Tsongas Center, about to leave the comfort of being an AHS student and moving onto becoming alumni, highlighting the strong support system and sense of community that defined the graduating class’s journey.

He also encouraged each graduate to “personally reach out and thank those individuals who made a difference in [their] lives,” reinforcing the ceremony’s message of appreciation, reflection, and recognition for the people who helped shape their high school experience.

Interim Superintendent Keith Taverna encouraged graduates to continue to make the community proud with the positive impact they will bring to the world.

To conclude the ceremony, Graduation Committee members Chloe Ahn and Margaret Farabaugh brought everyone together one last time. “Tonight we stand together because of the strong and spirited community we have built,” said Ahn.

Ahn concluded, “As we become graduates of Andover High School, we step into the world with purpose, passion, and pride… Congratulations class of 2026!”

Students, Faculty Travel to Scandinavia Over Spring Break

June 11, 2026

Samin Faiz || STAFF WRITER

Forty-two Andover High School students and seven chaperones visited Scandinavia this April.

After a six-hour flight from Boston to Reykjavík, Iceland, followed by a two-hour flight to Oslo, Norway, the group began their ten-day-long tour the Thursday before spring break. Through a combination of bus rides, overnight ferries, and countless miles on foot, the group made their way through five Northern European countries: Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Estonia.

“I’ve been traveling with students since 2005, so this might be my 17th tour,” said Brian Shea, English teacher, organizer, and chaperone of the trip. “We’ve now done all of Europe, so Northern Europe was sort of our last frontier.”

Apart from the chaperones, the group was accompanied by a tour director named Yulia, whom Shea worked closely with to structure the daily itinerary and ensure a smooth trip.

In Scandinavia, English is widely spoken, so the language barrier was never a problem for the group. Sometimes, however, the students made connections in ways that transcend the spoken word.

“I played soccer with a bunch of people in Sweden,” recalled Hannah Arnold, a junior who participated in the trip. “That was probably the highlight of the trip for me.”

Arnold is no stranger to international travel. Just two months earlier, in fact, she joined her classmates on another school trip to Peru over winter break. However, for her twin sister, Grace Arnold, this was a brand-new experience.

“I met a lot of new people that I’ve never met before, especially people not in my grade,” Grace said. “It was really nice because I met a lot of great people through that and got to spend time with people I wouldn’t usually get to spend time with.”

The trip offered a flexible balance of group tours and independent exploration. “We had a lot of free time,” Grace noted. “We got to explore cities on our own and shop where we wanted. As long as you stayed in groups of three or more, you were free to roam the city.”

Students observed the region’s distinct economic models. Through agreements within the European Union and the Nordic Council, higher education is heavily subsidized or entirely free for regional citizens.

“It’s really interesting. They tax wealthier people a lot more and their overall tax rates are a lot higher,” one student observed. “The way they reinvest money back into infrastructure contributes to stronger public infrastructure. Education and health care are free, and they even offer stipends to cover the cost of living. Essentially, you pay a lot of taxes, but you get a lot in return.”

Students also noticed the societal impact of these safety nets. “Their unhoused population is significantly lower. If you want help, those systems are available to support you.”

The travelers’ curiosity and maturity left a strong impression on the faculty.

“These kids were wonderful,” said Shea. “All of the students were engaged. They were paying attention. They were enjoying it. They were wonderful travelers. To me, that was the biggest thrill.”

With the preparations for next year’s destinations already underway, the future of travel programs at AHS seems to be brimming with opportunities.

“Next year, we have two tours,” said Shea. “We’re running one tour to Barcelona and Madrid in February, and then we’re running another tour to Greece in April.”

Such opportunities are often highly selective at other schools, but luckily, these trips remain open to the entire student body at AHS.

“There’s no application process,” Shea emphasized. “We’re not looking at grades. We’re not looking at behavioral records. Anybody can sign up when we offer these tours. I put them out there, and I’m like, ‘If you want to go, come.’”

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The S-KEY to Perseverance: The Uphill Struggle of a Downhill Skier

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