Students take advantage of the open campus to skateboard to class

The sounds of skateboard wheels scraping across Marist College’s sidewalks and roads can be heard everywhere across campus. For many students, skateboarding is a hobby. For some, a mode of transportation. For a special few, skateboarding is a lifestyle.

In the words of skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, “skateboarding is an art form, a lifestyle and a sport.”

Gabriella Guerriero ‘23 thinks of skateboarding as one of her hobbies.

“I’ve had a skateboard for a while; I would say I learned to skate probably when I was about 15, but over quarantine I definitely taught myself more things and definitely got more comfortable because I would meet up with my friends,” Guerriero said.

Come summertime, she skateboards frequently by the Jersey shore with her friends. She acknowledged how exciting and cool it is to skateboard, especially now that it is a sport in the Olympics.

“I feel like the coolest thing about skateboarding is that you can do so many things, and it’s something so simple,” Guerriero said. “You’re able to use it as a mode of transportation, and you can use it to show off your skills, like going off certain obstacles.”

Unlike Guerriero, Daniella Bonafede ‘23 thinks of skateboarding as a lifestyle. In Grade 5, she decided she wanted to become the “first professional female skateboarder.”

“The first time I actually stepped on a skateboard, I was in Toys R Us and my mom was in the other aisle. I put it down on the floor and I stepped on it, thinking that it was as easy as it looks on TV, and I fell on my butt so hard,” Bonafede said. “The skateboard shot out from under me and rolled into the women’s lingerie section, but I got that skateboard.”

She follows several skateboarding accounts and brands on Instagram including the Berrics, Toy Machine and Santa Cruz.

“There’s this one guy, who’s the youngest pro-skater at 14 years old, he got signed onto Toy Machine,” Bonafede said. “He goes crazy, he’s been in Thrasher [magazine].”

She has watched skateboarding events for years, keeping up with the X Games. After watching the 2020 Olympics, she came to admire Sky Brown, a 12-year-old who competed in the skateboarding competition.

Despite both skaters having taught themselves how to skateboard, they both do not skate as often as they want and they wish to someday go to one of the local skate parks.

They have, however, both been to AWOL Skate Shop, a store that has everything a skateboarder could imagine: boards, bearings, wheels and skateboard accessories. It even has a mini ramp/half-pipe in the back of the store so people can learn how to do ramp tricks safely.

Bonafede encourages people who are even a little bit interested to try skateboarding. She knows there are plenty of Marist students who could help teach anyone interested how to skate safely.

“The one thing I’ve found is that there’s such a good community around it; people in skateboarding are so nice and so helpful, and I think that says something cool about the actual community if you can find a community like that in any state and any country,” Bonafede said. “It’s like an unspoken thing; it’s one of the greatest communities you can join.”

Who are the Skateboarders around Campus?

MARIST CIRCLE