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After Vail photographer Bill Thompson passed away unexpectedly six years ago, his granddaughter inherited his old Nikon D4. When she broke her elbow last fall, languishing on the varsity volleyball team’s bench waiting to recover sounded too boring.

“So, I picked up the camera, watched a couple Youtube videos, and was like, ‘here I go,'” said Sloane Thompson, who started shooting sports photos at her school. The Vail Mountain senior, who also plays lacrosse for Battle Mountain, had found a new passion. This summer, she decided to explore it as a potential career path.

Thompson participated in The School of the New York Times’ Summer Academy, spending two weeks at Fordham University with roughly 400 other high school sophomores, juniors and seniors. While Thompson was one of 15 students in the photojournalism path, young thinkers and dreamers from across the globe studied anything from creative and opinion writing, filmmaking and investigative journalism during the July 20 to Aug. 1 session.

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“It was intense,” Thompson said. The prior year, Thompson had planned on spending her senior-year summer training for lacrosse in hopes of garnering collegiate programs’ attention.

“But I wanted to have some experiences in photography,” she said. A friend told her about the New York Times program, but Thompson was initially hesitant.

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“I really did not want to go,” she said. Her parents encouraged her to apply, and after submitting a photo portfolio and teacher recommendation letter, she earned a spot.

Classes in New York started at 8:30 every morning and went until 3:30 p.m., five days a week. Students were allowed to explore the city on their own over the weekend. In the morning, New York Times photographers and photo journalists taught topics ranging from ethics to artificial lights and notable photographers’ techniques. After a lunch around Lincoln Center, the aspiring journalists were dropped off for ‘site visits,’ Thompson said.

“We’d literally get dropped in Chinatown and they’d say, ‘ok, you have three hours. Come up with a story,'” she said. “I’ve only done sports photos. Never, ever have I done portraits or landscape or think about (the story) of what I’m taking photos of.”

Normally a social person, Thompson clammed up during the first week.

“I was not talking to anybody,” she said. “I was taking photos from afar, making up names, coming up with random things and my teacher was like, ‘you can’t do this.'”

On the last day of the first week, her assignment was to capture the weather.

“It was really hot out, so I decided I was just going to take pictures of people out in the shade,” she said. Maneuvering through Central Park with her own camera — she has since upgraded from her grandfather’s tool — Thompson spotted a homeless individual playing the saxophone. Ralph Williams had moved from San Diego 17 years ago but was raising money to buy a ticket to Tokyo.

“We just started talking, had a great conversation – he was pretty inspirational,” said Thompson, who was intoxicated a few moments later by a drummer named Cornelio Joseph. “He was doing a bunch of tricks around the drums and I was like, ‘that’s pretty interesting.'”

His story? Joseph had competed on America’s Got Talent earlier that week. Thompson’s epiphany? Anybody — and everybody — has a story.

“It was eye-opening to hear other peoples’ stories,” she said. “The first week, I was really focused on the photos. The second week I kind of got into the journalism part and learning about peoples’ stories. I just love talking to people and meeting people.”

A natural wordsmith, Thompson said she relished the opportunity to combine visuals with text.

“I learned to use my voice and not be scared,” she added.

Thompson said the entire experience offered growth in a myriad of other personal ways, too.

“I learned how to be independent and carry myself,” she said.

At the end of each day, students were free to roam about, but the ‘editor’s room’ beckoned type-A personalities from 4-6 p.m. There, students could sit down with New York Times editors to go over anything. Thompson chose to have her college essay analyzed.

“They were brutally harsh, but I mean, it was great,” Thompson said. “It was such a good experience.”

Her essay hearkened back to the source of her drive.

The Why

During the Gore Rangers’ recent rivalry match against Battle Mountain, Thompson stood on the sidelines, picking the brain of Rex Keep, a generous and well-known local photographer, just like her grandpa. At halftime, the grandmother of a player complimented Thompson for taking pictures.

“That’s what I like,” she said. While she’s especially satisfied whenever her knowledge and skills progress or she sees her Vail Daily photo clippings posted around school, the other ‘why’ behind her passion is the connection with her grandpa.

“I didn’t really realize it until I was writing my college essay,” she said.

Thompson will finish her final lacrosse season in the spring, but has decided she won’t pursue college athletics. She’d like to go to a big SEC school — the University of Tennessee is her number one choice — so she can take photos at major college football games. She plans to study international law and relations — the end goal is working abroad at an embassy — while minoring in photography.

“It’s kind of like a hidden passion,” she said. “I just really like seeing the joy in peoples’ faces.”