Charting a path in the Alaskan snow

Returning to Penn for the first time since her graduation ten years ago, alumna Aliy Zirkle had a message for students: "You can find yourself in ten years on the pack ice with twelve enthusiastic Alaskan Huskies and freezing your butt off."

Zirkle, the first woman and the youngest person ever to win the 1,000 mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, was the second speaker hosted this year by the Fox Leadership Program's series Lessons in Leadership.

In Zirkle's own words, "What Penn is saying by having me come down here is 'the sky is open.'"

Though many students were not personally considering careers in dog sledding, they were attracted to the speaker and the possibilities she suggested.

Wharton and College sophomore Michael Winik was attracted because Zirkle's experiences were "pretty exotic."

One of the program directors, College senior Douglas Gilman, explained the motivation for inviting Zirkle to speak -- "her story is very atypical and therefore very valuable" in sparking student interest. The Fox program aims to showcase "extreme examples with concrete takeaways," Gilman added.

One of Zirkle's main applicable tips for students was the importance of finding individual passions. Not only did she verbalize this lesson during her speech, but her presentation as a whole embodied the same concept.

College sophomore Rebecca Beyer praised Zirkle, saying "you can just see how much she loves" her work.

Specifically, Zirkle's work involves breeding, training and racing sled dogs up in Alaska. The native Midwesterner prepared, at least mentally, for her transition from life in her hometown of St. Louis, Mo. to her current life in Alaska through her four years at Penn.

During her freshman year at the University, Zirkle was presented with the opportunity of becoming a Student Conservation Association volunteer in Alaska. For six months, she surveyed birds and applied her passion for biology in the field.

Following the "fabulous break" she returned to Penn, still able to graduate with her class and possessing a more focused sense of what she wanted to do following graduation.

Since then Zirkle has "smashed a few borders" and broken into what used to be what she called the "old boy's club" of dog sled racing. Although most racers are men in their late 40s and early 50s, Zirkle attributes some of the recent broadened interest in the sport to her success as an atypical competitor.

College junior Brian Beck attended the program because he has similar goals in mind. Planning an immediate move to Alaska following graduation, Beck was offered contacts and a source of future advice in Zirkle.

Yet, regardless of students' individual interests, Zirkle offered a universal message. "Penn nurtured a desire to achieve success" that accompanies students following graduation. She attributes this notion as to why, "for no specific reason, I'll flashback to my years at Penn five hundred miles into a race."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.