Senior Charlie Crossette prefered he be interviewed outside, not inside on a breezy May evening, because Crossette is outdoorsy. Having spent time on a host of East sports teams, from track to baseball, Crossette developed a love for athletics and the outdoors at East. Crossette did his favorite sport, cross country, the longest, floating between JV and C team.
But there was one sport Crossette developed an affinity for that couldn’t be done around Prairie Village: snowboarding. That’s why this spring he didn’t join his peers in the rigorous college admissions process, and why he won’t be headed off to university next fall. Crossette will be headed for the mountains to work at a ski resort and be able to have access to Colorado’s state tuition after establishing a residency for a year.
He hasn’t decided on an exact school, but he’s not too worried. Next year he’s most excited to be outside, and be around like-minded people who run and snowboard like him.
Some of his peers think he’s crazy, living alone, paving his own way, but that just motivates him.
“It makes me more excited to prove them wrong, that I’ll do fine working and living in Colorado by myself,” Crossette said.
While he’s determined to succeed, Crossette admits that he’ll miss seeing his friends all the time, and that it’s a little scary to be living on his own. But he’s ready, and his parents are too. Crossette isn’t too sure what he wants to do with his life, and hopes that a year to himself will help him figure it out before jumping straight into colleges and majors. He might take a few classes at a community college while living there.
“I think it’d be good just to keep studying so I don’t lose all the knowledge I have,”Crossette said.
Crossette said he will also probably have to retake the ACT and get a better score next year. He felt a little strange while all of his friends were working on their college applications and stressed that he was going about things differently.
“It was a little weird knowing that everyone else was doing something different than I am,” Crossette said, “Most people are going to college but it’s not necessarily what you have to do.”
In regards to finding a job, Crossette isn’t too concerned.
“My dad knows someone that works with Vail Resorts,” Crossette said.
He will most likely work at a hotel or as a cook at a resturaunt. He’s afraid that he won’t make enough to keep living there, because his parents won’t be supporting him. His parents will pay for his tuition to a university after he is accepted next year. He’ll miss his friends, and will be living completely on his own.
“It will be fine, it’s just everyone I know is here, so it will just be different,” Crossette said.
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