19 Oct Humans of IEEC, #4.

(Annabel, 21, from Melbourne)

“When did you started skateboarding?”

-“So, I only started skateboarding around two years ago. It was in this strange transitional period of my life. After I finished high school I was really frustrated by the people around me and I was sick of feeling like a kid and I just wanted to skip all the bullshit and be 30 years old. I started hanging out with much older people whom I thought were mature and worldly because they lived this rich classy lifestyle. I became this really horrible materialistic and narcissistic person, and judged everyone around me. I channelled a lot of my anger into drugs, which didn’t do me much good. After I hit rock bottom, I realised that I had really tried to throw away a huge part of my adolescence. That’s when I decided to take off all the makeup and fake tan and try be a real person. Skateboarding was a huge part of that because it’s a sport that’s forever youthful – it doesn’t matter how old you are because it’s a consistent reminder that it’s great to be a kid.”