When I was trying to come up with some task or activity to learn and master a million things came into my head because there is so much that I do not know how to do. The task that I finally decided on was learning how to skateboard. I have always been fascinated with skateboarding and the culture of skateboarding—so much so that my friends two birthdays ago chipped in and bought me a nice skateboard. I have never really been able to use the board properly or adequately so I decided now was as good as time as any.
I started off by finding a pair of suitable shoes to practice skateboarding with. This proved to be a little difficult at first because I don’t own any shoes that would have been appropriate, so I borrowed a pair of Vans from one of my close friends. After I found proper clothing and shoes to prepare to learn how to skateboard I realized that learning how to would not have been as difficult had there not been feet of snow nearly everywhere. So, I set off on trying to find some flat ground without snow or ice. I eventually found a vacant outdoor basketball court that seemed suitable. I figured that through trial and error I would be able to become comfortable on the board but quickly realized that I didn’t even know which foot to push with and which foot to start on the board so I called my friend Danny Karpinski who I know is an avid skateboarder and asked him for a few hints and tricks to learning how to skateboard. I learned that I should push with my left foot while leaving my right foot on the board and also have my right foot at the front of the board. Once I felt like I had built up enough speed I would place my left foot behind my right and coast for a while. It took me several tries to get the timing and placement right but once I figured out where my feet needed to be spaced I felt a little more comfortable on the board. Once I had both my feet planted on the board I would just coast until the board stopped moving. I realized that I should probably keep pushing every so often with my left foot if I wanted to keep moving. The first time I tried to take my foot off the board again I lost balance and jumped off. This happened several times. However, I was able to finally keep pushing with my left and then reposition it on the board. After about two hours of skateboarding in straight lines around the court I called it a day.
Through this experience I learned that I am definitely a hands-on and independent learner. I would much rather spend more time by myself mastering a new topic or activity by myself than ask for someone to spend a lot of their time to help me. I do realize, however, that I need to have some direction and help to know some of the mechanics of activities before really grasping the concept but once I have understood that I can start practicing it on my own. I have found this to be true in most of my academic pursuits as well. For example, in any of my math classes I will see a new problem and first try to tackle it all myself. If I cannot find how to answer the problem I will ask a teacher or other person for some prompting and then work on the problem myself until I have understood it for myself and mastered it.
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