Here I am, 25 years old. I’ve started to write this in Johannesburg, South Africa because I was there for the world championship of skateboarding, the Kimberly Diamond cup.

The day I first set foot on my skateboard something changed in me. That day I became addicted to skateboarding. As soon as I stepped on that piece of wood with four wheels I realized there existed a quite place in my head which I never knew about.

When I stepped on a skateboard for the first time I realized I had no talent at all for skateboarding but I had my mind set on learning this.
It started of with going to the skatepark once or twice a week but soon turned in to riding my bike to the skatepark as soon as school ended and leaving when it got dark. The guys that were hesitant at first, being the only skateboarding girl at the skatepark, were slowly turning into my friends. I got my first boyfriend at that skatepark, climbed trees, sprayed graffiti, learned my first ollie and there were some other firsts.

I felt at home there and so did my friends. We were experimenting a lot of stuff either our parents or the law couldn’t agree with and got in to trouble every once in a while but we had a place that we could all call our second home.