My First Skate Sesh, Bro

I've started volunteering with an after school mentor-type program run through SUN Community Schools. Each Wednesday after the last class the kids join up with their leader/mentor/teacher and my dear friend, Early. They check in together and then Early juices up the van and takes them to a park to skate together. Pretty simple. Extremely effective.

This particular class consists of solely middle school boys. I had two brothers growing up, and have always had lots of male friends, so hanging out with lil' dudes isn't really the issue. The issue is middle school. yuck! It's a crazy crazy time. Everything is changing. They're growing and learning a lot, seeking to rebel against previously established norms and find their own identity. Actually, that sounds an awful lot like my life right now. Adultescence? Maybe they can mentor me too.

My attempt at cool 

I'm not around kids much these days. I have no idea what they are into. What do they listen to? What do they talk about? Will they be taller than me? Will they like me? Am I a square? Do they even say 'square'? ack!

Truth be told, I can't skate. If I were ever actually charged with the task of teaching children how to skateboard, I'd have to admit that I have no tangible skills in this area.

Fortunately, however, I don't have to teach them to skate. They already know how to do that. They skate around me like little fish in water. I, on the other hand, am extremely clumsy. I run into things. I trip over my own feet. And I've decided to take up skateboarding? hmmm.

Early filming as the kids show off their skills

All the of the boys were incredibly sweet, intelligent and helpful. They saw that I couldn't skate and started to teach me the basics--where to put my feet, how to use my hands, what it means to be goofy foot, etc. And yes, in case you were wondering, I am goofy foot.

With their guidance, I managed to stand on the skateboard and pump my leg to make it go faster! I can even turn slightly! The only problem is when I get going too fast, I panic and jump off the board. This doesn't really surprise me.

Over the course of the afternoon, I fell a total of three times, and still can't quite feel the tip of the middle finger on my right hand, but we're all good.

I'm really excited of the possibility of shedding my fear and gaining a new skill. I'm also excited to hang out and do fun things with these great lil' dudes... I mean medium-sized dudes (oops). I have a feeling that when this is all said and done, they will be giving me more than I could ever give them...

...but that's volunteerin' for ya.