Longboard Collective
Longboarding is as foreign a thing as flying a plane for me. I have always joked with my friends that I am more comfortable on things with two wheels, such as a bike, rather than a four-wheel board. Learning to ride by the end of the week would certainly be an option, but hanging my board on my bedroom wall was a bit more appealing. Come Tuesday, the sound of the planing machine, drills and sanding tools bounced about my head till around bedtime, but I was understanding the whole concept of building a board from scratch.
The excitement that both Wayne and Andrew brought to each student was amazing and helped with the construction aspect tremendously. I didn't want to make their jobs too hard, but I found that I behaved like a deer in head lights when they asked me questions about what kind of riding I wanted to do, or what kind of flex I wanted my board to have. No, I do not want to do tricks, and sure, why not have some nice flex? The possibilities were endless, and if one were to look around the shop, they would see kids with their hungry eyes framed by ridiculous retro safety glasses, florescent ear protectors fastened tightly around their ears, and a smile that mostly stretched wide enough to inhale copious amounts of saw-dust and convey their excitement. Lunch break of the second day introduced me to riding. My friend and I escaped to the school's track and it was there that I received my first riding lesson. She was nice to work with, brought humor and experience to the table, and was forgiving of my inexperience and happy to teach. I found that I was able to do a couple of shaky kicks and could not execute a full-on turn, but I came away from that thirty-minute session better balanced and excited about trying out my own board. It was like all of the sudden the Longboarding gods reigned justice upon my anti-riding thoughts. I'd say it was the greatest turning point yet.
Coming into the course without any experience or expectations, I have found that I have become psyched about the whole philosophy of the Collective, from building to riding our wonderful creations. The unique thing about this course is that everyone thinks and creates differently, and we have some amazing help from our teachers to show us how to engineer these ideas. They stated to us on day one that the possibilities are endless and that there are no rules, something that you don't often hear when you reach the age of adolescence. But while the course has focused on these concepts, the importance of giving back to the community and appreciating the opportunities that Mr.Lavigne, Mr.Goodall-Heising, and Mr.Halloway have given us are amazing. I have learned that all it takes is hard work, dedication, creativity and appreciation for the opportunities that are given to us to make it all work. When you follow through on those things, good things will happen. Erin D.
Posts
