Five years ago, I started skateboarding. I did what any kid who knew nothing about skateboarding would do, I bought a Walmart board. While it wasn't the best, it didn't affect me because I wasn't able to do anything anyway. A week later I decided to go to my local skatepark, Frontier Skatepark behind Nequa Valley highschool. There I remember riding up and down the ramps trying to get comfortable on my board. Then one of the other skateboarders there, John Bell, came up to me. He told me the board I was riding was a piece of crap but that he was impressed I could even use it. He then gave me his old skateboard that he had in the back of his trunk and told me that I should stick with it. I thanked him and left the park with a huge smile on my face. Ever since that day, I have been skateboarding non-stop for 5 years, and it is something that keeps me going. To this day I still have the board he gave me hung up on my wall as a reminder to keep going. I held onto this board because it reminds me of family, the family I have built throughout skating.

– Joshua Mize

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