Allison Hughes may seem like a typical senior: she has a close-knit friend group and a sense of urgency to leave high school for what’s next. But, unless you’re lucky enough to be in her group, you’d never know how extraordinarily different she is.

Being born in Alaska, she’s comfortable with Michigan’s cold weather. Unlike most Michiganders, she embraces it and uses the snow to exercise her skills and hobbies.

“I like running, mountain biking, hiking, snowboarding, and dirt biking,” Hughes said. “But, during the winter, skiing and snowboarding are my favorite.”

Hughes learned these skills very young. She was 10 years old when she started snowboarding, and just five when she started skiing.

“For me to be able to go down a hill without falling, it took me maybe two or three days,” she said. “My dad taught me at first, but having an instructor really helped.”

Her father is the inspiration for her talents, and pushes her to do the things she enjoys.

“It was my dad’s idea. He really likes it so I thought, why not give it a try?”

Though there’s not a lot of opportunities for her to go right now, she knows that next year will be different.

“Since I live in Chelsea I can’t go as much as I want,” she said. “But next year, I plan to go to Northern, so I’ll be much closer to some of my favorite places.”

She is much better than she used to be, and has even trained some of her friends in the sport. When asked what tips she has for new skiers and snowboarders, Hughes indicated that the most important thing to remember is that failure is inevitable.

“My advice to beginners would be to be prepared to fall down a lot, to have a whole lot of bruises, and remember to always be patient and have fun.”