by Daniel Brackle
Ever since I can remember I’ve always loved winter more than any other season. I’ve always found the snow so beautiful when it lays on trees, and enjoy bundling up in the cold just a little bit more than sweating in the sun. Winter also led me to one of my favorite hobbies, snowboarding, which I have done since I started high school and continue to enjoy today. I’ve always appreciated the outdoors. I grew up in a rural area and most of my fun moments from childhood were spent outside sledding in the winter and building bonfires in the summer. My love for the outdoors transferred to my love for snowboarding and, in turn, grew my love for the outdoors even more. Snowboarding has given me the chance to see some beautiful parts of the Northeastern United States, and it has definitely only added to my appreciation for the beauty in nature.
I started snowboarding because I was told I couldn’t continue two of my favorite sports (swimming and baseball) due to health reasons. I remember watching Shaun White and other famous snowboarders at the Olympics and XGames and I felt so invigorated when I saw it, and decided to teach myself when I got into high school. I used to only go to local mountains near where I am from (eastern Pennsylvania), but I’ve been to mountains up and down the Northeast, namely upstate New York and Vermont. I would have never explored that part of the U.S. without snowboarding pushing me to try new things and see all sorts of beautiful new places.
Climate change continues to affect our world, and disrupt the very nature and regularity of the seasons, our outdoor spaces, and the Earth at-large are at stake. That is why I have turned my eyes toward applying what I am learning in the classroom both in the workplace and the home. I absolutely don’t want our winters to disappear and want to enjoy the Earth to its fullest extent. Although I did not have this mindset throughout my whole life, I have realized this is a growing issue. I want to take my newfound knowledge into the field of supply chain management, and make environmental change from behind the scenes at a company. I have begun to apply sustainable practices to my daily life, taking a harder look at my impact on the Earth.
One-Year MBA 