Overcoming Obstacles
Success isn’t something you’re born into; it’s something to strive to reach with every step you make. Bonnie St. John knows that fact all too well. When she trips over a step, she gets back up again. The stereotypes out there say she shouldn’t be a success, but she became a successful Olympic skier anyway.
Bonnie St. John grew up very poor. She was a black girl from San Diego being raised by a single mother. Worse still, she was an amputee. Her leg was taken from her when she was five years old. Although she had no money and no snow, she longed to be a skier. Her mother actually encouraged her in this crazy idea.
Black people don’t ski? Black people don’t swim? Black people don’t golf? Not true! The stereotypes are everywhere. I’m sure the Tiger Woods’ of the world would agree! One of Bonnie’s motivations for success was always to motivate OTHERS to success. She remembers this goal from as far back as her teens. Today she’s one of ten thousand members of an African-American ski club.
Before her days of fame, when she was just a kid, a classmate named Barbara Warmath invited Bonnie to go on a family ski trip during the Christmas break. It was a moment of dreams. Bonnie was the kid everyone either teased or didn’t notice. She rode a special bus and was exempt from PE classes. This was the chance of a lifetime.
To go on the ski trip with her friend that Christmas, Bonnie had only a few short weeks to overcome several obstacles. Embarrassment wasn’t an option for her. This was before the days of the internet, so Bonnie flipped through the Yellow Pages looking for inexpensive snow gear. Most of her gear ended up coming from the Salvation Army.
Skiing isn’t easy for someone with two good legs, so it’s no surprise that Bonnie had a horrible time getting started. Her prosthetic leg was a much bigger challenge than she could have imagined, and since she knew nothing about skiing when she acquired her gear, she was left cold and wet by her knit mittens. Bonnie wouldn’t trade this experience for the world, though.
Later, Bonnie St. John joined the Ski Club so that she could obtain the appropriate ski gear and take skiing lessons. She was able to meet and race with many other amputees as well. The more she raced, the more she realized how much she enjoyed the challenge. She decided to train for the U.S. Olympic Ski Team.
We can all be successful, no matter what the challenge we face. Some people have harder barriers to break than others, and some people are more creative at breaking those barriers than others, but in the end, we all have the same chance. Never give up. Never let your dreams die. Get up when you fall, and have patience.
