18 November 2024

“Pizza! French fries! Pizza! French fries!” Madelyn Merchant (Class of 2025) yelled, coaxing a group of preschoolers down a beginner ski slope in Sun Valley, Idaho. It was 2018, and Merchant, fresh out of undergrad, had traded the office grind for the fresh air of the mountains. She had always wanted to be a ski instructor, and here she was, guiding her students through the basics, teaching them how to steer their skis with simple shapes. But there was something else she was learning in those moments on the mountain — something that had little to do with skiing.