You can catch senior Nick Horskins at the local skate park almost everyday doing his favorite trick, ollie one-foots, over the jersey barrier. Before skating he likes to watch Toy machine videos, or Alien Workshop’s, Mindfield video. Nick has been skating since he was six years old, and says his best memories come from riding a skateboard.

“You get on your board, start pushing, and you feel free,” says Horskins.

Growing up Nick played a lot of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games, which inspired him to start skating. Being in only first grade, these video games had a lot of influence on him, and he soon decided he wanted to be apart of it, and got his first board.

“Pro Skater 4 was the coolest game in the world,” says Horskins. “I used to play it all the time.”

Some of Nick’s favorite skaters include Anthony Poppalardo, and of course, all of his friends. Even though you’re around all your friends while skating, its not a team sport. This is one of the things that sets apart skating from other sports, and also one of Nick’s favorite things about skating.

“It’s all on you,” said Horskins. “No teams or coaches. You are your own team.”

While everyone skates for different reasons, Nick says he does it to stay away from bad things and to get away from everything else for a while. When he gets on his board, its not hard to tell he is nothing but happy.

“Skating kept me away from a lot of bad things that people are getting into these days,” says Horskins.