I remember back in the seventh grade my mother would wake me early on the weekends saying, “Cherish, get up. We are going snowboarding!” She has always had more energy than me, as crazy as that may sound. I would half-reply, half-yawn through drooly lips, “Mom, it's too early. Please leave me here. I hate the cold!” She would go, knowing all too well that nothing could wake me up.

It was late afternoon on another weekend when my mom caught my attention about going snowboarding. She explained, “I'm going snowboarding with Steven's mom, and Steven is coming!” I thought for half a second, then my mind was made up. Steven and I have always been good friends; we even gave each other our first kiss back in fifth grade. “Okay, I'll go. Just give me a pair of your embarrassing wool socks so I'll stay warm,” I replied sarcastically.

When we got to the slope, it felt as if I had entered a new world. Everything was cold and white. The people looked like ants, only faster, and they were going down a terrifying-looking hill. I strapped my woolly warm feet into my snowboard bindings and slid down the bunny hill with anything but ease. Suddenly, my eyes opened wide. My heart started to beat faster than it had in a long time. It seemed to be beating with a rhythm I had never known before. It was as if my heart and the music of my life were beating together, perfectly.

That day back in seventh grade, wearing those weird wool socks and riding down a bunny hill, I was scared out of my mind. Yet somehow, it sparked something inside me. I guess it's what people call passion. That spark turned into a fire. That fire keeps covering more and more ground, as I cover more and more beautiful mountainsides.

Snowboarding has become the love of my life. It is what I want to do when I am older. It has created a love inside me that I want to share with everyone. Now when my mom comes into my room early to wake me up, she is not surprised to find me already gone. She leaves my room knowing all too well that snowboarding is the only thing that can get me up that early.