If you’ve wandered out onto the quad on a nice warm afternoon, you’ve probably had the tranquility broken by the likes of us. Just as you open your book, or sit down with friends, or set up your slackline, you’ll hear stomps and cracks piercing through our peaceful campus like firecrackers. You try to locate the origin of these noises and glance over to the steps in front of Coram Library, and you’ll see us there, in full attendance.
Bates College’s open campus invites these skaters to come and enjoy the views from our historic library. I caught Ethan, a first year at Central Maine Community College from Auburn, Maine mid kickflip. He said that Coram library offers both the versatility on ledges and stairs, as well as a smooth flat ground compared to “the New England streets.” For when he isn’t on the Coram steps, he spends time at random street spots or the skatepark in Portland, but neither are as consistently available as Coram.
“We’ve been coming here ever since eighth grade,” he told me as he gestured towards his friend, making his presence on Coram far more persistent than any of Bates’ enrolled students.
When asked about his engagement with our campus, Ethan talked about meeting “other skaters,” as well as talking to “other people who are interested in starting skating, but haven’t known where to start,” leading us to talk about his relationship with the beautiful sport.
“I started skating ’cause my dad used to skate. He still does a little bit, but I’d say the biggest thing is it’s a good relief of stress,” he said.
Upon closer observation, you might realize that we fail more than we succeed: most of the sounds come from the crashing of maple wood and steel against cement instead of a clean roll-away. We are all cursed to only land tricks when no one is watching (quantum skaters), but we keep trying.
What made Ethan stick with skating through his 8-year ongoing journey was simply “that feeling and the sound and everything that goes with it,” which is why he refuses to put headphones in when he skates.
“I listen to the sound of my board. It helps me coordinate my tricks a lot better,” he said.
Skating is unlike any other activity in that regard. It requires a unique mindset that embraces failure. In other words, it’s a never ending concession to the fact that we’re not that great. But skating is an individual sport– our only competition is our own past. We grow through the encouragement of tapping boards, bumping fists, and fully stretched hugs.
Ethan said in all his years of skating, he has faced several challenges and embraced perseverance. “I’d say probably the treflip was my hardest hill to overcome. It took me at least a month, I think, to learn. It was like, just like trial and error, going through pairs of shoes, decks and everything… for as long as it takes,” he said. The same kind of perseverance can be seen through all the sweat and blood shed over the Coram stones.
An embracing sport fosters an equally embracing atmosphere. Throughout the span of these three years, I have spent days, if not weeks, on aggregate honing my craft on those cold slabs. I can’t say I’ve gotten much better, but I have made many more friends than I thought I ever would. These kids come from all over town, some grew up here, some moved, and some left. Regardless of how different we are, a deck of 7-ply maple on wheels united us.
I have seen some of these kids sprout a full head in height, growing into their oversized tees and baggy jeans. Chase rips everything at full speed; Trevin dominates the Coram games of SKATE by pulling out some of the wackiest, twisty-turning tricks; Rain almost always has his retro video camera around, capturing our sessions through those fish-eyed lenses. I’ve always joked about how the Coram steps is my Harward Center, and listening to their stories have shown me a side of Lewiston that often evades Bates students. Most of our conversations while resting are as trivial as any conversation you might expect between friends. But there are also traces of hardship that work their way into our chats. I’ve heard about Brooke’s brother who was in-and-out of rehab and currently lives on his couch after being fired from Dunkin Donuts. I learnt of Carl’s hospitality through dinner with his parents who immigrated from the Philippines. These skaters not only break the tranquility of our quad, but also the bubble that most of us don’t even realize we’re living in.
Next time you see any of us by the steps, shout and request “Do a kickflip!” We might not get it on the first try, or land the trick at all, but we’ll never stop trying for the ecstatic chemistry between the pop, the flick, and the stomp– or as Ethan puts it: that feeling and sound and everything that goes with it.
