Olivia Flaherty-Lovy, Editor-in-Chief
Believe it or not, teachers don’t spend all day grading papers. In fact, many adults here at NCHS have just as adventurous hobbies as students. History teacher Olivia Patrizzi, for example, supplements her weekends of preparing for lessons with trips to nearby woods for her newest passion: mountain biking.
Ms. Patrizzi, who is in her third year of teaching at NCHS, decided to try something new last October. “I was never much into sports growing up and I always considered myself to be the farthest thing from athletic, but I decided to venture outside my comfort zone,” she said. “It was really one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
Mountain biking is often seen as an intense and draining sport, and for good reason. “Falling is definitely a major downside, but as long as you’re in the right gear, it’s easy to get back up and try again,” Ms. Patrizzi said. “It’s easy to get frustrated when you can’t do something or your pedal slips but the best part about it is that every single time you go you improve.”
Now, on weekends and even some weekdays after school, you can find Ms. Patrizzi mountain biking on the local trails of Greenwich, Wilton and Trumbull. “I started doing things I never thought possible for someone like me, and soon I became addicted to the excitement and the adrenaline,” she said. “Now not only am I doing the things that I never believed I could, but I’m anxiously awaiting the day when I can do even more.”
Whether you think you may have an undiscovered passion in mountain biking or are just longing for a new experience, Ms. Patrizzi strongly encourages anyone who wants to try mountain biking to stop by the Social Studies office to speak with her. “The key is to focus on small accomplishments and to not get discouraged,” she said. “The way you approach challenges and the way you look at life really does impact how successful you are.”
