Asnowboarder since age nine, Katie Conlon ’23 found her niche in the Parks, Recreation and Tourism major at ̽̽. A required summer internship took her to a Vermont ski and resort area, where she was then offered a part-time position during the winter and a full-time job after graduation this May.
Katie grew up in Wrentham, Massachusetts, an hour southwest of Boston. More at home on a snowboard than on skis, she learned the sport through youth programs at a ski area in Massachusetts and, later, during family trips to Vermont.
The allure of snowboarding the mountains of Vermont combined with an appealing visit by a University of Vermont (̽̽) admissions representative to her high school drew her to ̽̽ as a psychology major. But psychology—like skis—was not a good fit for her, and Katie soon switched her major.
Her love for snowboarding and the outdoors brought her to the office of Professor Patricia Stokowski, director of the Parks, Recreation and Tourism (PRT) program in the ̽̽ . Sophomore year, Katie took Professor Stokowski’s Tourism Planning course and settled into her new major.
“PRT courses are different from other classes you take,” said Katie, who created educational displays with classmates in Environmental Interpretation to tell visitors the story of the history and identity of the Old East End neighborhood in the City of Burlington. “You learn about parks, protected areas, planning for recreation, and more. It made learning fun.”
The Ski Area Management course, taught by Senior Lecturer Dave Kaufman, started Katie on her career path. She took the class during the peak of COVID-19 only to face disappointment when she and her classmates couldn’t spend the traditional last week of winter break learning firsthand from ski area managers at . But, Katie did the next best thing.
She became a teaching assistant for the course her senior year and got to experience the week of training at Stowe, after all.
“It was fun to pick Dave’s brain about the ski industry,” said Katie, who has set her sights on working in the industry after she graduates. “You could write a book about what he knows about ski area management.”
In his Resort Management and Marketing course, Dave randomly assigns students a staff person to shadow at a resort in Vermont. By chance, Katie shadowed a staff member in the marketing department at and began her journey there.
Internship to Job
When it came time to fulfill the PRT major’s internship requirement, Katie got another contact at Bolton Valley from Dave. She met with snowboard instructor Nick Lemire, and they lined up a paid summer internship for Katie with Bolton’s Mountain Programs Department, which offers youth summer camps in hiking, mountain biking, and skateboarding at the resort. She worked with camp supervisors to plan and run activities for children aged 4 to 14. She signed in campers, communicated with parents, led hikes, and transported mountain bikers to and from trails.
“I worked alongside department supervisors and managers and gained hands-on experience that reinforced what I Iearned in the classroom and prepared me for what lies ahead after graduation,” said Katie. “I enjoyed getting the perspective of an independently-run, family-owned ski area like Bolton in comparison to big corporate resorts.”
Her internship led to a part-time winter job at Bolton with more responsibility as a snowboard instructor and supervisor of the Saturday youth instructional programs. Although she thinks she may prefer a more structured work environment and hopes to experience working at a larger corporate resort, possibly in a marketing and administrative role, Katie networked and built valuable relationships with Bolton staff that will help her in the future.
“I met people with similar passions to me who share a love for mountain sports and decided to pursue a career in the industry,” said Katie. “For me, for the staff, and for the kids we instructed, experiences with recreation at a young age can shape our passions down the line.”
She plans to meet with her mentor, Nick, and discuss potential career paths. Katie will have plenty of time for that as she is scheduled to work at Bolton again this summer after graduation, with plans to stay on for at least a year. She is already looking into employee housing that Bolton offers near the resort to reduce her commute.