Charles River Skatepark

When I was twelve-years-old my family and I went to watch the X-Games in Philadelphia. I've always had an interest in skateboarding, but that summer was my first experience with seeing professionals skate first hand. Before that day, I saw skateboarding on television, but I always thought that it was either edited to make the professionals seem better than they were or that they used suction cups to keep their feet on their boards. At the X-Games, I saw all of the top professionals skate vert and I realized that what I saw on television was real and that what they were doing was not impossible. Every day, these skateboarders challenged what the average human being thought was physically impossible. That day I also happened to witness a girls' vert demo. I was amazed. I'd never seen a girl ride a skateboard before and these women were doing it professionally. When I found out that the best on of the bunch, Lyn-z Adams, was the same age as I was, I realized that I too could be one of those women flying, grinding, and flipping their boards up on the seemingly giant vert ramp. After that day, I started skateboarding religiously and became instantly addicted to the feeling of freedom and euphoria that I got from pushing myself on my skateboard.