Steamboat Springs, CO -

Q. Who is your biggest role model?
A. Jesus Christ.

Q. What’s your favorite career moment so far?
A. When I first qualified for Junior World Championships in Nagano, Japan, in 2008. I had been studying Japanese by myself for a couple years, so I was very excited to go.

Q. What’s your favorite thing about your sport?
A. My favorite part about snowboarding is the giddy feeling when you finally nail that technique you’ve been working on. The feeling of snowboarding itself is very satisfying, too, but when I know I’ve improved, it makes me happy and grateful for the opportunity God has given me.

Q. What’s your favorite junk food?
A. Green tea ice cream. I could eat it all day.

Q. What book are you reading?
A. This summer, I took an intensive course in Japanese at UCLA, which taught all of third year Japanese in nine weeks. There was so much work to do that I didn’t have time for pleasure reading.

Q. What is your favorite social networking site?
A. Facebook, though I am rarely on it.

Q. If you could speak any language fluently, what would it be?
A. Japanese. I am working hard to achieve this right now, but I wouldn’t complain if I didn’t need to do so.

Q. If you had three wishes, what would they be?
A. Go to the Olympics. Get married. Get a bachelor’s degree in Japanese.

Q. Who is your celebrity crush?
A. I am not really interested in celebrities, but if I had to choose, then I would say Simon Baker, who stars in “The Mentalist.”

Q. If you were an animal, what would you be?
A. A house cat, because they seem pretty well off.

Q. Which song do you know all the lyrics to?
A. “Amazing Grace.”

Q. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
A. I see myself married with a job in Japanese translation.