For three years, I’ve had the privilege of having a column called “Skateboarding 101” where I try to teach readers something new about skateboarding every month. In the beginning it was the proper setup, and most recently it progressed to the varial kickflip. Now that I’m halfway through my senior year, I’m taking a moment to take a break from teaching skateboarding to others and reflect on what skateboarding has taught me.

The kickflip is one of the many milestone tricks that almost all beginner skateboarders dream of. Learning this trick is such a fulfilling moment because it is widely considered the gateway to the rest of skateboarding. For me, it was a long, two-year beating of bruises, rolled ankles, and months of soreness to land this trick even once, and it was some of the greatest relief I’ve ever had. Because I didn’t give up, it has now become one of my most consistent tricks. I’ve learned many harder and more unique tricks since then, but the kickflip will always be the most special to me because it taught me the most about life.

Learning how to kickflip taught me patience, which is something I’ve struggled with my whole life. I’ve always wanted to be the best I could as quickly as possible, and I tend to rush things that need more time and attention. This showed in all areas of my life, including my test scores and grades. Through learning the kickflip, from having to learn how, where, and when to flick properly to figuring out how to actually land back on the board, the patience I had to cultivate in order to master this trick showed me that there is tremendous value in studying, practicing, and working. As a high school senior, I am now comfortable taking the time to do what I need to do, no matter what it is, because I know that if I give myself the time I need, the result will be worth it. 

Learning how to kickflip also taught me persistence. Similar to my lack of patience, I was inclined to give up or move on if something didn’t happen soon enough. I had a particularly low point during the learning process for my kickflip, where I thought I was never going to learn the trick and had serious thoughts of giving up. I was tired of always being injured and seemingly never making any progress. What I found out along the way is that every time I was trying, I was making progress. Every attempt and every failure taught me something new about what not to do. I knew I had to stick to it and see it through, so I kept going and it paid off. Learning anything is like this, especially in the IB classes I take now: sometimes I think about something for hours and don’t feel like I’m getting anywhere, but I know the process is just as important as the outcome, so I have the persistence to stay with it until it clicks. 

Any trick in the art of skateboarding takes an enormous amount of work. A lot of that work is alone, behind the scenes, time consuming, and frustrating, but the moments of relief in completion and satisfaction in success keep me going. As I matured through high school, I have come to realize that the same is true of anything in life worth doing. From my first kickflip to my most recent tre-flip, skateboarding has taught me in life, there will always be challenges, but that I don’t have to be afraid of failure, I have learned that through patience and persistence, I can meet any goal that I set for myself, even if at first it seems difficult to achieve.

Click here for an archive of the column I’ve written for our print editions, “Skateboarding 101.”