It all started when I was ten years old. I played Tony Hawk games so much that I thought "Why not just try to skateboard?" I dreamed about one day being able to do a kickflip, and how it would feel to be able to grind down a rail over a set of stairs.
For awhile I had attempted to skateboard, but I always quit as soon a I had a bad bail. Once I turned fourteen it was a lot different though. I began to feel a part of me want to compete with friends who were already better than me at skateboarding, and for the first time in my life I wanted to rise above what was around me. I was going to be the best. I would practice and practice in my Aunt's basement. Ollie after ollie, after ollie until I finally knew what I was doing. Now the kickflip was on my list of tricks to learn. My older cousin Jim already knew how to do one and showed me the basic movements your ankle had to do in order to land the trick. He told me that it would take me a few months to learn the trick, but once I learned the kickflip I would never lose it. It would be something that would always stick with me. I learned it in one week.

At the time I had been living with my Aunt who had been diagnosed with terminal breast and lymphatic cancer. She had such an optimistic view about life after she won her first battle with cancer, but after the second time she was told she had cancer I started to see that side of herself disappear. She wasn't depressed in the sense that no one around would make her happy, all she wanted to do was see us do what we wanted in life. She told me that if I could keep my grades up in school I could try to go pro for skating. I could have done anything.

Now four years have gone by and I have a lot to work at in order to accomplish the dreams I had when I was younger. Sometimes I look back and wish I could have pushed myself a bit harder. I wish I could known how fast time goes by. So for now, all I can do is keep pushing myself to the limit. If I fail, I can't say I didn't try. That's why I say there's more to it then trial and error. My thoughts, my actions, my emotions, and my blood all pour into the art I call skateboarding.