Although the Olympics was hosted in Korea, many SIS students were unable to attend events due to their busy schedules and continued school. However, Edward Ahnshin (9), worked at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics as a side slip crew of the Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom (PGS). With his strengths in skiing, his job as part of the Olympic slipping crew was to ski on the sides of the slope to make sure that the pathway was flat and remove any obstacles in the course.

Edward has been skiing since he was very young. Over the years he learned proper skiing form and built experience on the slopes, which is what helped him get a place in the slipping crew. Even for Edward, skiing as part of the slip crew for the Olympics was not an easy task. “I was very nervous at first to be part of the slipping crew because I knew that since it was the Olympics, if I made a mistake, the consequences would be large. As I was so nervous, during one of the runs I fell while skiing down the slope. Although it did not have any impact on the event, it led me to become more determined to execute my job well,” said Edward.

From Feb. 15 to 25, Edward spent 10 days at Phoenix Snow Park, where he served as part of the slip crew. Over the course of 10 days, not only did he earn a small amount of money for his job, but he also had the opportunity to watch the runs of several world-class snowboarders. Notably, he was present to watch the Korean snowboarder Lee Sang-ho become the first Asian to win an Olympic medal in alpine snowboarding. However, Edward gained more than simple working experience through this opportunity.

“My experience at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics led for me to appreciate the value of hard work. Although working 12 hours a day on the slopes was not an easy task, at the end, I was proud that all the hard work resulted in successfully hosted events. I learned what goes into organizing large-scale events such as the Winter Games, that it requires much more behind-the-scenes work than what is seen or broadcasted.”

Although he had to miss one week of school to work at the Olympics, Edward said the experience was worth it. As the opportunity was a special one, he said he will remember it as a highlight of his high school career in South Korea.