Keep Pushing
Here is a project all about the raddness of skateboarding and how it's shaped me into who I am today.
When did you start skateboarding?
I began skateboarding when I was in kindergarden because of my sisters very first boyfriend, Chris, was a skater. I thought he was the sickest dude ever at the time and wanted to be just like him. So me and my big brother decided to pick up a few boards from the local skateshop that used to be in downtown Plano called Eisenbergs. For the first three years all I could do was ride around pretty decently, but my brother on the other hand was taking off learning tricks left and right. I told myself then "man i want to be just like dylan now" so I went outside and learned how to ollie, the very first trick everyone learns. Once I learned how to do that it was a wrap, I became hooked.
A Picture of my siblings and I, young and shredding it.
What has skateboarding taught you?
- Perservence: There is one law that every skater knows, and that is that better you get at the skating, the better you get at falling and getting back up. The more you skate, the more you fall, and the more times you have to push through all the failures just for that one success. That one trick landed.
- Determination: Skateboarding doesn't come too easy for anyone, probably everyone to be honest. I remember trying to learn a kickflip for almost 1 year straight, this is considered a more easier trick out of them all. I spent days back to back coming home from school, staying out till it became dark with no success, but it taught me determination. Once I finally learned how to kickflip, a whole new world of possible tricks opened up, and I knew I had what it took to learn them.
- Friendship: The skateboarding communitity is like no other and one of the very things that gave me all the crazy and enjoyable memories growing up. No matter if your just starting out or a pro, everyone's all treated the same on the board, and everyone just wants to see everyone succeed. We look out for eachother, we back eachother up, we teach eachother, and most importantly we all love eachother.
My Top 3 Skaters
Paul Rodriguez
I mean not only do we share our last name, but growing up he was defintely one of my biggest inspirations, because of the sheer steezyness of all his tricks.
Chris Joslin
If you want to see a absolute animal on the board just watch this guy right here. Growing up this guy defintely influnece my skateboarding in terms of just going for the biggest gaps and stairs I could find.
Dylan Rodriguez
Hey I just said I wanted to be like my brother so here he is. The Man. The Myth. The Legend. He has taught me almost everything I know and pushed me to go past my limits growing up.
Me and my board ❤️
"Who is with you?" THE CREW!
One of the few legendary pictures of all the crew together hyping me up as I land this sick ollie down this six stair. Some of the best times skating were them so you know I had to throw this in here.
"Did you land it?" You freaking bet I did.
This was a awesome still shot the crew photographer Eli got of me kickflipping our highschools legendary 7 stair. I was also wearing a Care Bear onezi, so I defintely got even more style points for that.
"Where is this?" The Training Grounds
The apartment building behind me is where I grew up for 3 years of my life and this basketball court was where I would spend almost everyday and every hour learning tricks and mastering the art.
