In the United States, there’s this sentiment of needing things immediately, whereas both transitioning and improving in skating can be extremely slow and difficult processes.

Learning new tricks and learning to become a better skater has taught me to not only enjoy the processes as slow as they are, but also to enjoy being able to to work through the difficulties.

I’ve learned to pay more attention to my surroundings and picked up on how to help other people so that they don't have to work through some of the difficulties that I've worked through.

I have really worked hard at creating a skate presence on social media. I've gotten very political and outspoken about where I stand on certain bills that are extremely harmful and need to be brought to the attention of people who aren’t aware as it doesn't involve them.

Encouraging others has really helped me gain a lot of confidence in who I am, to the point where I have been able to be so vocal about it, and open about it on my social media that a lot of people actually come to me for questions, which really makes me feel good that others trust me.

It blows my mind to know that people around the world know who I am, admire my skating, respect the point of view that I bring, and look forward to the skating content that I bring online.

[To be continued under ‘Support’ tomorrow]