Now boarding
May 01, 2024
UVic social work alumna and debut author Amy Mattes, BSW ’17, writes about the enduring joy of skateboarding and why kickflips might help kick-start creativity.
At the age of 42, I still love the feeling of falling and getting dirty on a skateboard. I’m more cautious and prone to injury nowadays, and I spend more time aiding my young son in not giving up on the task of learning, even though it can be difficult and painful. There is something about the grit, the feeling of pushing and coasting though public spaces, that alleviates the harsh edges of the world and expands freedom and self-expression.
Skateboarding helped me survive a rough adolescence in Nelson, BC, and later Montreal. It formed the basis for my newly released debut novel, Late September, and it was my surprising path to studying social work at UVic. The play and comradery of skateboarding brings together all kinds of people throughout the life span, developing self-concept, confidence and community. It also spawns creativity, much of which is emulated through today’s fashion, music and media arts. Skateboarding is an art form and an Olympic sport. It is anti-conformist and community building. Many people involved are creatives and helpers.
The summer I was 33, I taught skateboarding lessons on Victoria’s West Shore as a part-time gig. During a lesson, a group of kids singled out a child and teased them for looking like a boy. I went to intervene, but they shrugged off the concern. “I want to be a boy,” they had said. There was joy and conviction in their smile, like they knew something I didn’t, and I trusted them.
I’d been a girl in male-dominated sports my whole life and was no stranger to bullying or questioning one’s identity. I was so proud of this child for knowing who they were. I gave them my skateboard that day as they didn’t have their own. Skateboards were easy to come by for me, and I hoped the board would last for them, help them in the way it had me. At that time, I was desperate to leave my waitressing job behind. I began thinking about community, bodies, choices and safety. I had wanted to go back to school but had little idea of what I was good at or interested in, until I realized I’d been performing and experiencing social services work for all of my life.
At 34, as a mature student, I enrolled in social work at UVic, the first person in my family to go to university. There, my values became politics and my purpose and passion ignited.
I was always journaling my experiences with addiction, sexuality, grief and identity—and academics only bolstered my wisdom. Academic life did put my dream of authoring a novel on hold for four years, but I’ve finally accomplished it! The themes I explore in my novel are those of lived experience. The premise is a girl skateboarder coming-of-age on a journey to a new city, where self-esteem is learned the hard way and loving oneself unfolds through trial and error. Having realized some of my own dreams, I now use the teachings of my degree to work as a probation officer, helping others to achieve their full potential.
—Amy Mattes, BSW '17
This article appears in the UVic Torch alumni magazine.
For more Torch stories, go to the UVic Torch alumni magazine page.