(This is a guest blog from College Counselor Jay Hauser):

Lance Armstrong once said, “Anything is possible. You can be told that you have a 90% chance or a 50% chance or a 1% chance, but you have to believe, and you have to fight.” And that’s what Tyler Walker did, he believed and he fought.
 
When you think of famous University of New Hampshire (UNH) athlete alumni, former NFL Pro Bowler Jerry Azumah (’99) or football standout David Ball (’07) may come to mind, or maybe its Hobie Baker award winner Jason Krog (’99), or even baseball Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk (’69).  But have you heard of a student-athlete named Tyler Walker?

In Tyler’s sport, there are no season ticket holders, pep bands, radio broadcasts, painted end zones, or students throwing giant fish on the ice, but none of that seems to matter to him. And if you take a look at Tyler’s accomplishments on the ski trails, you will see a student-athlete whose name belongs among the very best at the University of New Hampshire.

Why? Easy…he has competed in the X-Games, the World Cup, and the Paralympics Games. He competed nationally and globally in his sport while completing degrees in both Geography and International Affairs from UNH. All while living life as a college student, a student confined to a wheelchair.

He’s been featured in Rolling Stone magazine and The Boston Globe.  He’s met with former President George W. Bush.  And just how many student-athletes do you know that have their own web site.

I recently talked with Tyler about the challenges and accomplishments that have filled his life to this point. Here’s a recap of our conversation: 

When did you start skiing?
I started racing when I was 12.  In one of my first races, the US Adaptive Ski Team was competing as well. I was really impressed by their level of talent and I very quickly wanted to be as good as they were.

As a student-athlete in college, what were the biggest challenges that you faced?
Being a student-athlete was a crazy experience. I raced all through high school and qualified for the US Adaptive ski team at the end of my junior year in high school. All through that time I had to juggle both school and racing at the same time, and do well in both, which was far from easy. I was hardly ever in school during the middle of winter and I had to do much of my work either before I left for a race, during the time I was gone, or scramble to finish everything when I got back. It made for some really late nights and intense negotiation with my teachers. I had similar issues in college. I ended up taking the spring semester off completely from school in my first two years in order to devote all my energy to skiing, but I then had to go to school throughout the summer. The last two years I spent all at school, with minimal racing, so that I could finish in four years. It was all very stressful to juggle but I planned it well and was able to finish up with two majors and a good GPA.

What advice would you give to high school student-athletes?
Concerning advice, I must emphasize that school always takes priority over anything else. Regardless, take a lot of time to plan out ways in which you could do both sports and school, without compromising your academics. It is possible, but it may require that you are in school longer, or you postpone the time when you can completely devote yourself to a sport. It is extremely important to be well-educated and have a fall back option based on your schooling, just in case high level competitive sports don't work out.

I just want to show the attitude of gratitude and thank Tyler Walker for inspiring me, not just as a fellow athlete, but as a person. What an inspiration he is!

Sincerely,

Jay Hauser