One of UNM's students is a nationally recognized rock climbing champion.
Sophomore Page Brown was featured on the TV series "The Real Winning Edge" on My50-TV on Sunday. She was named national champion for females aged 18 to 19 in rock climbing in the summer of 2007.
Brown said she started rock climbing when she was a child and has continued ever since.
"My dad had been climbing since he was about 15, and so I just started climbing when I was about 10 and fell in love with it," she said. "It's a lifelong passion, something I can see myself doing until the day I die, God willing."
Brown said the biggest challenge she had to overcome while training and competing was the mental aspect of climbing.
"You can train as much as you want, but if you're mentally weak, it doesn't matter how physically strong you are," she said. "Mostly, it was a mental game for myself, just putting so much pressure on myself. There's a lot of pressure to perform. When it's your turn to climb, it's all up to you and what you can do. You can't rely on your teammates. For me, I had to rely on God."
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Brown said she was not able to overcome the mental challenge in 2006, when she placed sixth and was one place away from competing in the world competition.
"It was so close I could taste it, but I wasn't close enough to make the team. I was distracted by worrying how other people were going to do instead of how to prepare myself," she said. "I think it was frustrating, but in a way it motivated me to persevere and compete the next year. And I did well, and I did make it."
After becoming a national champion, she went on to represent the United States in the World Competition in Ecuador.
"When I competed in Ecuador for the world, it was probably the most difficult because at the World Competition there are teams from around the world. That's where the best of the best come together and compete against each other," she said. "It's really intimidating, especially for the women."
Brown said the thing she loves most about rock climbing is that the adventures never end.
"There's always a new challenge, always some new adventure to embark on, whether it's trying to find a more difficult climb outside or just to go check out a new area to go climb out outside," she said. "There's so many options. You never reach the end of this sport. There's always something to improve on."
University spokesman Chris Elliot said "The Real Winning Edge" features students who are intent on
accomplishing their goals.
"What's important about this show is that it's encouraging young people who are in middle school and high school to see college students succeed," he said. "What this does for UNM specifically is encourage younger kids who are maybe dealing with tough times to have an optimistic approach to life and education."
Kathleen Watson, producer of "The Real Winning Edge," said the show found Brown through a rock climbing organization and that she was just what they were looking for.
"One of the themes of Page's story was that she is a very talented and an intelligent person, and she had to learn to let go a little bit," Watson said. "She found that when she went along and relaxed and enjoyed rock climbing, she actually did better."
