"Roll With It"

If I had to condense my philosophy of life into a single phrase, something one might see on a bumper sticker, it would be "roll with it". I came into this way of thinking in part through my love of skateboarding. As a longboard skateboarder I spend a lot of my leisure time flying down the asphalt looking for bigger and faster hills to conquer. Any skater will tell you that as you skate you are bound to encounter obstacles. Sometimes you'll hit a patch of gravel orbroken pavement, other times a car or pedestrian. Inexperienced skaters tend to panic when these situations arise, often leading to "bailing" or abandoning the board. On occasion this tactic can work and you can just get back on the board and move on, but if you're really moving quickly bailing can be dangerous. After a few painful experiences I learned to just trust the board to carry me through. Obstacles can be circumnavigated or just rolled right over, and you never have to give up the ride you're on.

I found that this philosophy also applies to life outside of skateboarding. I tend to think of life as a ride I'm on, and just like a ride on a skateboard it is fraught with obstacles. Some people will allow these obstacles to force them off course, in essence "bailing" on their own lives. In keeping with my skater's mindset I have always found ways to go above, around, or straight through any obstructions in my way. It is through this way of thinking that I survived my public high school experience. Motivation to do well in school was always lacking in my mindset and as a result my grades suffered. Its not that I don't love to learn, or that I don't value education, I just disagree with the way MCPS goes about teaching us. I don't want to sit through seven hours of class a day broken down into classes so short that all they can tell us is what they want us to do at home.

My parents would ask me if I wanted to drop out, seeing as I obviously wasn't all that interested in high school. I always knew, however, that what I wanted out of my life would require me to finish high school. So I rolled with it, simple as that. I stuck it out with my crappy grades and got my diploma, and now I am happily enrolled at MC actually learning about things I really care about.