By Elisa Czerwenka

Sk8tergurl

When I was eight, I wanted to be a Skater girl. I thought they were cool. I wanted to be cool. I wanted to roll around town like there was nothing more natural than that. I had a couple of friends who would try to skateboard. More often than not, they would fail spectacularly. Although I was a brave child, seeing some of the injuries my friends got from skateboarding scared me. There was barely a day where I wouldn’t come home with bruises or scratches all over my body from playing out in the woods. I loved to be outside, played football and stayed out with the neighbours’ kids until our parents collectively had to shout to get us back home. But the skateboard was a bit too scary for me at the time. My parent’s were not the biggest fans either. It’s no surprise my parents were worried. To be honest, I am very grateful for my parents protecting me. That’s their job. Long story short: until last week I had never tried skateboarding.

It was the first day at SCA, when Marc brought in skateboard with him. He explained that it was a metaphor. When you learn how to skateboard, you need to learn slowly. Learn by failing, just like at SCA. Marc suggested to us to try skating in front of everyone. It only took three turns until one of us fell. Badly. Marc also added that we all could learn skateboarding throughout the year, if we wanted to. The SCA skateboard was a collective one. We might even learn tricks and become quite good at it if we trained long enough. It sounded like it was just an idea, an explanation of a metaphor or an attempt to get us to learn something new. And immediately I got this voice back in my head now. “Don’t try, you will fail”. So I didn’t try and went home. 

But then my mind starting wandering. This skateboarding thing was not just a metaphor. It was a brief. And if I know one thing at SCA, it’s this: Never turn down a brief. And, naturally, a brief is a challenge. The voice in my head trying to tackle a problem became louder and louder, until it silenced the worrying voice of reason. My rational brain kicked in one last time. What if I actually fell? Well, people that skate can get hurt. Yes, I could get bruises, I could fall on my bum and walk with pain for a couple of weeks. I could embarrass myself in front of anyone, but how bad can it be to fall off a skateboard? Surely there are worse things. But the the truth is if I started slowly and carefully, it is doubtful that I will break a bone. It is much more likely that I will get better and learn something new. So there I was, attempting to learn how to skate. My goal: being able to skate around SCA and do curves. From Baby to Beginner.

So, I stayed for a bit longer at the end of our first week. Just about 20 minutes, until we got kicked out. I grabbed the skateboard and tried to stand on it. Alright, that works. All limbs were still intact. Then I started moving around, leaning to one side and then another. Still standing. Being on a skateboard feels quite lovely. Then I began to put one foot down and gain some speed. I was STILL standing. This wasn’t so hard after all. So I continued to practice. And the next day. And another day.

After a couple of days and I can roll around SCAs wooden floors and take curves. I got a lot faster now and I can make my hair dance in the speed. This might not sound like a huge accomplishment because clearly, it is not. Let’s be honest. I am no Tony Hawk, and I probably won’t ever be. But the achievement lies somewhere else. To me, silencing my inner “Don’t do this”- , “this is stupid”- , “you might get hurt”-voice is a huge deal. It takes effort. And I did it. On top of that, I have found something that is so much fun. Have you ever ridden a skateboard? No? Do it now! Or come to SCA and try ours. It feels fantastic to be standing on it, moving smoothly through space. I had found myself getting on the skateboard multiple times, especially when I was stressed and needed a break. It takes my mind off the briefs for a short moment and is one thing only: Fun. 

For sure, I will continue to practice, get my skateboard and see how far I can take this challenge. 

Sometimes, in life, we have to get rid of this inner voice that hinders us from failing. We need to fail. That’s how we learn. I know that SCA will give me plenty of opportunities to challenge my fears. And I am ready for it.