While the rest of her high school class was busy with Homecoming or Prom, University of Denver sophomore alpine skier Sterling Grant was busy traveling the world as she raced for the U.S. Ski Team.

Getting nominated for the U.S. Ski Team is no small matter, especially as a high school junior. The U.S. Ski Team's ultimate goal is to prepare its skiers for the Olympic Games. As a result, their standards for qualification are set high and only get higher as a skier advances through the ranks.

Grant was 16 years old when she decided to train for the U.S. Ski Team. Her training forced her to drive an hour and a half every night from her hometown in Amery, Wis., to Buck Hill, Minn., to ski. She would practice for two hours and wouldn't get home until 11 p.m.

"I had to do my homework in the car," Grant said. "It was a lot of work and took a lot of dedication, but I wanted to make the U.S. Ski Team so bad."

Grant's dedication paid off, but actually being on the U.S. Ski Team would require even more diligence and commitment than before. It also meant she would miss her junior and senior years of high school. Instead of class, Grant took online classes as she traveled and trained with the U.S. Ski team.

Even though she missed out on much of the traditional high school experience, Grant had the opportunity to experience the world in a way many of her peers never would.

"Competing for the U.S. Ski Team allowed me to see the world, learn and explore," Grant said. "It helped define what it takes for me to be successful."

The team had apartments in Austria and then would travel to Switzerland, France, Italy, Germany, Bulgaria and Spain, to name only a few of the countries they visited. Over the summers they trained in Chile and New Zealand.

Despite the prestige of being a member of the U.S. Ski Team, after five years Grant decided it was time to pursue a higher education. Grant turned down the national team's 2010 nomination and set her sights on the University of Denver.

"It was definitely a hard decision," Grant said. "Since I had experienced it for five years, I got to travel and do that whole scene. It wasn't as difficult as most people would think."

Even though Grant had set her sights on DU, the coaches at Denver did not pursue her in the same way. They had mistakenly thought she was too old. Thinking that her birthday was on January 6, 1989, rather than June 1, 1989, the coaches didn't even bother contacting Grant, thinking that she had only one year of eligibility left. Head coach Andy LeRoy was pleasantly surprised when Grant corrected their mistake and expressed her interest in skiing for the Pioneers.

"It was amusing to have someone with skills so far above the college level recruiting us," LeRoy said. "We just said ok and nodded our heads with a smile."

It was impossible for the coaches to turn down someone with such an impressive resume. Grant ranked fourth in the U.S. and 39th in the world for slalom in 2009. In giant slalom, Grant also ranked 140th in the world in 2009. She was a two-time NorAm slalom title winner in 2006 and 2009.

Though her skills in skiing were above that of the average college student, her transition from the U.S. Ski Team to collegiate skiing was challenging. One of the greatest differences was learning how to focus on both skiing and school.

"On the national team, I was only focusing on skiing," Grant said. "Here you're doing your own skiing, doing your schoolwork and trying to balance it all. It was difficult."

The other major hurdle for Grant was her age. When Grant started her freshman year, she was the same age as most of the seniors. It was a humbling experience for the 23-year-old freshman, whose friends were all finishing up their last few credits while she was taking introductory level classes.

On the other hand, Grant's experience on the U.S. Ski Team made her a valuable member of DU's team.

"Her experience with the U.S. Ski Team really prepped her to be immediately successful here at DU," LeRoy commented.

This season, Grant finished up her last year of eligibility for the Crimson and Gold and though she had only two years to ski for DU, she's accomplished quite a bit. Grant finished the 2011 season undefeated in the slalom, including the 2011 NCAA individual championship. She took 18th in the giant slalom, leading Denver to a fifth-place finish. Grant won the slalom and took 28th in the giant slalom at the 2011 Winter World University Games in Erzurum, Turkey. In the 2012 season, Grant finished fourth in the slalom at the NCAA Championships, earning first-team All-American honors for the second consecutive year.

"She's a success in the classroom and a success on the hill," LeRoy said. "Whether she is in front of us or practicing on her own, we knew she was always working hard and doing the best that she could."

Though she is sad to be finished skiing for DU, she is ready for the next part of her life. Grant hopes to earn a management degree. Then she plans to attend a fashion school for two years. Grant aims to enter into the fashion industry either by starting her own line or going into business management.

"I will miss competitive skiing, but I am looking forward to new and different things in life," Grant said. "I am a very competitive person naturally, so I will take my competitive personality and gear it towards other goals and career decisions that I make."