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According to Canadian Olympic bobsledding gold medallist Kaillie Humphries, surrounding yourself with people who believe in you makes a huge difference in reaching your dreams.
One of the key people Humphries says believed in her potential to reach her dreams was her favourite teacher, Berkley Beingessner, who taught math and physics at the Calgary Board of Education’s National Sport School, in Calgary.
“Mr Beingessner was my favourite teacher for a lot of reasons,” says Humphries, who studied physics with Beingessner in Grades 11 and 12. “He was always willing to help with any questions. He wanted me to succeed in school as well as in sports. It means a lot to me.”
The bobsledding champion says Beingessner was a popular teacher with many athletes. “I think he was a lot of students’ favourite teacher,” adds Humphries. “He was supportive and he wanted everybody to succeed. He was nice, he was cool, he was just a really, really good guy.”
Humphries, 25, won the gold medal in the women’s bobsledding competition at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games with brakeman Heather Moyse. During the Winter Games, Humphries and Moyse set a start record and a track record with a speed topping 146 km per hour.
“I worked very hard to get to this point. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs, as I’m sure life in general has for everyone,” says Humphries, who had dreamed about winning an Olympic gold medal since the age of seven, and never gave up on reaching her dream. Attending the National Sport School helped ensure she got a good education while going after her goal. What counts in life, she thinks, is to “have a dream and work hard to make sure it comes true. Believing in yourself and never giving up is the key.”
For his part, Beingessner describes Humphries as a remarkable human being who never gave up. “She wasn’t afraid of working hard,” says Beingessner. “She took her athletic talents and used them in a way that helped her grow as a human being. It was awesome to watch her grow. Her growth as an athlete was also her growth as a person.”
Humphries is an outstanding example of what Beingessner thinks it takes to succeed in life. “Believe in your dreams, in yourself and always feel good about what you accomplish,” he says.
