The Skating Scene
“You'll never truly know anyone’s story, but if you pick up a hobby and dedicate yourself to it and meet people you'll be able to learn and see how everyone truly is alike.”
Skateboarding has been at an all time increase since 2020, as many new teens have picked up the hobby as a trend or genuine interest. But its impact has been felt since long before then. Skateboarding had one of the biggest impacts on the world of fashion and sporting since the 1960’s. The new interest has brought teens together to cope with any problems at home or problems within themselves. It has also helped influence teens in expressing themselves and help create an interest into something that many can dream of.
Skateboarding has created one of its biggest influences on my life and many others that I've known. It created and helped me pave a sense into who I am as a person. It also has helped put a huge step into the streetwear culture as we know it, with one of the biggest streetwear brands being a worldwide known brand Supreme. This has created a whole new community within skateboarding and fashion helping inspire and bring new fashion trends such as baggy clothing being extremely normalized and displayed into many celebrities and letting that inspiration catch young teens and adults.
Supreme began in New York City in April 1994. Since then, it has held a popular demand, with multiple celebrities such as Drake, Kanye West, Playboi Carti, Kate Moss, Lil Wayne, Asap Rocky and many more wearing it which is what took the media by storm and made this brand become what it is now. Many began wearing baggy jeans such as a popular brand being Jncos which revived the wide legged style and also began a trend all over Tiktok and made many new people try it such as myself.
While skating may only be seen through fashion and hobbies, it has also left a mark in the cinema world with the biggest movie being Mid 90’s which was produced by A24 and directed by Jonah Hill, which is surprising because you would've never thought. The movie wasn't casted with professional actors it was casted with genuine skaters and helped bring about new thoughts in the skating world and having one of the biggest quotes being ,” A lot of the time we feel that our lives the worst, but I think that if you looked in anybody else's closet, you wouldn't trade your shit for their shit.” This quote deeply resonated because it shocked me to see how a deep topic can be brought up just by skating, it shows how many things can be expressed and you'll never truly know anyone’s story but if you pick up a hobby and dedicate yourself to it and meet people you'll be able to learn and see how everyone truly is alike.
For a long period of time skating was a way of coping with personal problems for myself. When I first picked up a board, the way I was as a person changed. I felt much better since it allowed me to become more social. I met great people, making memories with random teens along the way. As I grew together with these people I also started noticing that this was the best decision I ever made. I noticed that these people carried the same interests as I did from clothing style, personality and just almost the same person over all. I wondered why they also spent most of their time skating and I got multiple responses.
One of the youngest in our group, Bryan, his dedication for skating was the sole reason for making his hobby into a job. He always dreamed of wanting to be a pro. This did not shock me, as he has had the most potential of anyone I know – from being able to compete in tournaments in LES Skatepark and many other small events. He also added that he wanted to put the majority of his time into this because he knew he could make a living off it, which he already is doing from being sponsored.
My friend Johnathan, the oldest in our group, said his sole reason for skating was to create it into content. He would always record whenever the group would hangout and post it on youtube to hope for attraction, which inspired most of the group like him to create content. Lino and Noah both said the same, which was skating to get rid of problems they held into themselves and be able to create a sense of peace and get rid of the problems they faced. Overall i'll never regret picking up a board because it helped create the person I am and met the coolest people ever and I believe everyone should experience this atleast once since we will never be teens and will grow to be old and live with the thought of not doing something we wanted but instead be able to live it now wether its skating or not it's never too late to try something new.