I often wonder if I would have still received some of life’s lessons, especially at the same point I did, if I had never started skating. Skateboarding has helped me to see and understand the importance of individuality. I really got into it at a point in my life where I feel like I began to obtain a certain sense of self which I was lacking before, though I may not have said so at the time. Skating definitely forced me to start thinking outside of what is generally seen as normal as I could no longer look at handrails, stair sets, ledges, or even park benches and see anything other than a potential “spot”. I still do that to this day actually. Along with that, more often I would find myself with a differing opinion from those I talked to often, though not always opposing, but difference was almost automatically seen as such in many cases. Through going to skateparks and coming into contact with so many different skaters, I began to be more inviting to the variety that exists among individuals in my everyday life. Nowadays I try to have conversations with all different kinds of people as often as possible, regardless of their age, race, economic status, etc. In doing so I hope to be able to look at situations from multiple perspectives, allowing me to relate to many different kinds of people and their experiences. The most prominent  lesson I’ve gotten from skateboarding though is resilience. In skateboarding, you fall. A lot. The thing that generally separates those who dedicate a lifetime to skating and those who only stick around for so long is the willingness to get up and try again, sometimes even doing so until you literally cannot. All of the professional skateboarders that people see, doing all of their crazy tricks, did exactly that and it so happens that they got noticed for doing it. I apply this idea to my daily life, as I have dealt with setbacks, more of which I know life is going to have no shortage of. I know that regardless of what they are though, as long as I get up, there is still a possibility for a better outcome.