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Wednesday, 11 Jun 08
I LIKE TO CALL Erin “Brain Surgeon” Bragg, because she is the smartest skier kid I know. She (seen on right side of picture with sister Kate) has managed to marry skiing with fun and career. If you live in the ski industry, you know that that combination is hard to come by. The 24-year-old works in a neurology lab doing research on, as she describes, “diabetic peripheral neuropathy, usually sectioning human skin biopsies on the microtome or running immuno histochemistry. Yeah, that’s right, “Brain Surgeon.” During Erin’s academic career at Bates College in Maine, she was exposed to both biology and psychology which she took a great interest in pursuing. Erin loved bio, but as she advanced as a psychology major, she knew this was the right track for her. Her research at Bates culminated with an independent thesis study on sensation seeking, depression and tattoos, which was published in the “Bates Journal of Psychology.” As she was looking for graduate programs that best fit the majority of her passions, Erin found a position at the University of Utah listed. She currently reside in Salt Lake City, although born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, working in a city that offers both opportunity for career and nearby mountains to recreate in. Just looking at Erin, you would never suspect her to be such a nerd. She’s always up for new adventures. This past year, the former Bates alpine racer, entered her first big-mountain contests and quickly became a top contender. She is a little crazy, but always the girl to call if you want to have good time or need a loyal friend. — Vanessa Pierce
SheJumps: What great thing would you dare to accomplish if you knew you could not fail?
Erin Bragg: Apply for and be admitted to an Environmental Psychology (how people relate to and use the environment) program and learn about everything from educating farmers on pesticide reduction, creating pro environmental behaviors in children, to promoting environmental behaviors like low water use and transit use though new urban design. Graduate and take this knowledge to educate youngsters, get them thinking about and acting positive in their daily life starting with their home, neighborhood, and local parks all the way to the global community and natural environment as a whole.
SJ: What are your one-line mantras?
EB: “Just give’r” and “natural frequency” (I’m a science hippie nerd)
SJ: Have any inspirational quotes?
EB: Came across this once and it gives me chills whenever I read it, don’t know who to credit so I’m going with anonymous —
“Powder. It’s a drug. And like any other potentially addictive substance, it sucks up time, money and inclination, all of which eventually drain through a hole in your psyche. Seasons are squandered in its pursuit, lives are lost in its fury. It’s a silken seductress, to which having once fallen prey to those wiles, you will always return, but whose continuous promise of tumultuous crescendo is never quite realized — there can never, ever, be enough powder. Given that, there can never, ever, be enough said about an inanimate substance with the power to mold disciples and the cosmic ability to both transform and transfix. It’s a dimension. Powder.”
I’ve been inventoried and I have an addictive personality. It both helps and hinders my growth as a person. Good: once I start a workout regimine or writing or painting, I stick with it for a while. Hard thing: to actually start.
And …
“As long as you have your boobs everything’s alright!”
SJ: Do you have a good luck charm?
EB: No good luck charm, but my Smile Pill comes when I think of how miserable it was living in a concrete jungle in January and everything was cold, grey and wet. No matter how windy, nipply, or crusty the snow is, being on the mountain is 13-million times better than being in a dreary city.
SJ: What’s something that makes you tick and continue to JUMP, metaphorically or physically?
EB: I always know when the next full moon is and go outside to look at it each time. I believe this keeps me connected and is a reminder that everyone I love and miss is under the same moon. Energy is never created only transferred.
Profile: Erin Bragg
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I LIKE TO CALL Erin “Brain Surgeon” Bragg, because she is the smartest skier kid I know. She (seen on right side of picture with sister Kate) has managed to marry skiing with fun and career. If you live in the ski industry, you know that that combination is hard to come by. The 24-year-old works in a neurology lab doing research on, as she describes, “diabetic peripheral neuropathy, usually sectioning human skin biopsies on the microtome or running immuno histochemistry. Yeah, that’s right, “Brain Surgeon.” During Erin’s academic career at Bates College in Maine, she was exposed to both biology and psychology which she took a great interest in pursuing. Erin loved bio, but as she advanced as a psychology major, she knew this was the right track for her. Her research at Bates culminated with an independent thesis study on sensation seeking, depression and tattoos, which was published in the “Bates Journal of Psychology.” As she was looking for graduate programs that best fit the majority of her passions, Erin found a position at the University of Utah listed. She currently reside in Salt Lake City, although born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, working in a city that offers both opportunity for career and nearby mountains to recreate in. Just looking at Erin, you would never suspect her to be such a nerd. She’s always up for new adventures. This past year, the former Bates alpine racer, entered her first big-mountain contests and quickly became a top contender. She is a little crazy, but always the girl to call if you want to have good time or need a loyal friend. — Vanessa Pierce
SheJumps: What great thing would you dare to accomplish if you knew you could not fail?
Erin Bragg: Apply for and be admitted to an Environmental Psychology (how people relate to and use the environment) program and learn about everything from educating farmers on pesticide reduction, creating pro environmental behaviors in children, to promoting environmental behaviors like low water use and transit use though new urban design. Graduate and take this knowledge to educate youngsters, get them thinking about and acting positive in their daily life starting with their home, neighborhood, and local parks all the way to the global community and natural environment as a whole.
SJ: What are your one-line mantras?
EB: “Just give’r” and “natural frequency” (I’m a science hippie nerd)
SJ: Have any inspirational quotes?
EB: Came across this once and it gives me chills whenever I read it, don’t know who to credit so I’m going with anonymous —
“Powder. It’s a drug. And like any other potentially addictive substance, it sucks up time, money and inclination, all of which eventually drain through a hole in your psyche. Seasons are squandered in its pursuit, lives are lost in its fury. It’s a silken seductress, to which having once fallen prey to those wiles, you will always return, but whose continuous promise of tumultuous crescendo is never quite realized — there can never, ever, be enough powder. Given that, there can never, ever, be enough said about an inanimate substance with the power to mold disciples and the cosmic ability to both transform and transfix. It’s a dimension. Powder.”
I’ve been inventoried and I have an addictive personality. It both helps and hinders my growth as a person. Good: once I start a workout regimine or writing or painting, I stick with it for a while. Hard thing: to actually start.
And …
“As long as you have your boobs everything’s alright!”
SJ: Do you have a good luck charm?
EB: No good luck charm, but my Smile Pill comes when I think of how miserable it was living in a concrete jungle in January and everything was cold, grey and wet. No matter how windy, nipply, or crusty the snow is, being on the mountain is 13-million times better than being in a dreary city.
SJ: What’s something that makes you tick and continue to JUMP, metaphorically or physically?
EB: I always know when the next full moon is and go outside to look at it each time. I believe this keeps me connected and is a reminder that everyone I love and miss is under the same moon. Energy is never created only transferred.
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