| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | My most memorable childhood experience is hanging out with friends in my neighborhood. It was a beautiful suburban setting, and there were wide streets and we would all wave to each other in passing. There were a lot of kids my age and always something going on. We would play almost any sport, go to the woods/creek (the most popular spot was a place called "Rocky Falls"), and do all sorts of other crazy and fun stuff. The neighborhood was tucked away from main roads so there were all sorts of backyard shortcuts which could take us all over town, to interesting business complexes, the outdoor swim club, the mall, and/or different parks. We were also close enough to the city, where my family would often go, which helped me to see many diverse environments at a young age. A little later in life, skateboarding has brought me all over the country and to so many different environments and cultures which I feel has served me very well. |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | I come from a relatively small family. My immediate family consists of just my sister, mom, and dad. Although I closely identify with all of them in unique ways, I would currently say that I most closely identify with my sister. We share many of the same values and grew up together in nearly the same world. We are always there for each other and frequently check in to make sure each other is alright. We have gone down some different life paths and had many different experiences which have helped us to grow stronger and closer by being able to confide in each other and learn from each other. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | I admire all the traits associated with being a good person and living a moral and ethical lifestyle. These traits include: Bravery to go against the norm if an injustice is recognized, self-control and awareness to not always make the easiest decisions but the right ones, compassion to consider all viewpoints and not judge by race or ethnicity, and intelligence to be able to make decisions for yourself by doing independent research and seeking truth. These character traits reflect the desire to constantly want to grow and be better as a person and society, and allow one to treat his/her environment and neighbors with respect and love, and bring change against corruption and pollution. I also admire living life to the fullest and having a meaning and a purpose. |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | There was a time in my youth when almost all of my friends skateboarded, and during the summer there was this skateboarding/overnight camp that, in our eyes, was the best place you could possibly be spending your time. It was an action sports camp for boys and a gymnastics/cheerleading camp for girls. It had dozens of outdoor and indoor skate parks, and other facilities for a wide variety of other things to do. It was on a huge plot of land surrounded by farmland in a lush green landscape. One year, we managed to get almost all of our friends to go and filled up an entire cabin with kids who knew each other in some way and were all from the same area. Needless to say, it was like a dream come true. One night, our camp counselor was trying to get us to settle down around bedtime but we were all just amped up and having a great time in paradise. One of the camp directors came around during his nightly rounds and told us that we had to quiet down and get ready for bed or someone was going to get "trash duty." We were obedient and the room was dead silent as he turned around to leave. As the door was about to shut behind him, there came a tremendously loud scream from the back of the room. "AHHHHHH!" One of our friends had broken the silence by screaming at the top of his lungs. It was this high pitched, hideously funny noise made solely for the purpose of rebelling at this rule to be silent and had these crackling characteristics that you might imagine from a teenage boy's vocal cords... and we all just went hysterical. The camp director charged back in and demanded to know who did it and my friend was sent outside and punished the next day by having to collect trash around the camp. But I will never forget that sound he made and the good times we had at that camp and how hard we all laughed. Those of us who were there that night have told that story for years and I don't think that anyone in that room could ever forget that moment of just how ridiculous it was for him to have the urge to scream so loudly. It might have been just for the purpose of entertaining us. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | Currently, I would go to Barcelona, Spain, because it is one of the best places on earth for skateboarding. Skateboarding is one of my biggest passions and I have had sponsors and consider myself an amateur athlete in skateboarding with dreams to do it professionally. It is an art form and brings me so much joy and purpose for the physical world around me. Barcelona is a destination for almost all professional skateboarders and is known for its vast public plazas with open space, smooth ground and ledges, which skateboarders recognize instinctively. I have seen Barcelona footage in nearly all professional skate videos since my first one when I was eleven years old. The city seems peaceful and laid back, with nice weather and people. I would like to enjoy some nice outdoor cafes while not skateboarding and then later check out some of the nightlife. I always love exploring new cities and places unfamiliar to me. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | I would like to pass on to my children everything that I possibly can that would help them to thrive in this world and become the best people that they can be.
I would like to pass on good health and a long life, nutritional knowledge, an active lifestyle, a strong body, mental clarity, and of course financial stability. I would pass on anything and everything of value that I possibly can because when I have children, they will always come first. I would like to give them the happiest life and family that I possibly could and have a love and bond that has no limits and to be there for them always and support them in anything they choose to do. |
