One teenager who is the best in the world!

Yeah, so it appears that I came up with the idea of this blog and then had no time to actually get it going. Maybe it will be a once-every-couple-of-years blog. Couldn't help sharing this video though. When I started coaching rock climbing at my school 11 years ago, there was this little girl who climbed at the gym where we practiced. Watching her climb, you could tell there was something different about her. She had a natural grace on the wall that none of our teenage climbers could match, and she just seemed to have so much fun. Now, a decade later, she is 18 years old and the number one female climber in the world. Her success and attitude are a combination of dedication and joy that only a teenager can have. While working hard enough to be at the top of her world, literally, you can tell in the video that she is still just a regular, fun-loving kid. Congrats to Sasha - I hope you keep inspiring your and future generations of climbers and dreamers!

If you missed the link above, click here to watch the video of Sasha becoming the first American woman to ever climb a 5.14d (9a).

This one's a little old, but illustrates how a teenager's sense of invulnerability can result in awesomely brave, selfless acts.

http://www.thegrio.com/news/teen-saves-apartment-building-from-fire.php

We had a student at my school last year who had been our best cross country runner since the 9th grade. He dreamed of being the state champion, but always came in second. Finally, in his senior year, he was running a little behind his biggest rival, biding his time to make his move. As they approached a turn in the course, his rival continued on straight. Rather than take advantage of that mistake, our student Reid called to him and let him know that we was off course. The other runner turned back and eventually caught Reid at the wire. Reid ended up second in the state, but first in everyone's respect. My wife showed me this story today of a similarly principled cross country runner:

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2011/09/23/mn-cross-country-runner-rescue.wcco

Teenagers are awesome!