The night was black but the snow covered hill was illuminated like a lightbulb, every square inch was lit and bright, the weather cold and you could see your own breath, I sat at the top of the terrain park called “Pinery” The bottom of my snowboard facing down the hill,  Me and a few of my friends have been trying to nail down this trick called a 360 where you project yourself in the air and do a complete 360 turn and land flat and tadaa, Believe it or not at this age it was a hard trick to get down, we had been attempting this trick all night off of this quarter pipe lip (Lip is a term for a jump off a ramp) it was perfect for speed and height for novice people trying to learn the trick: I had been trying ALL night for this trick, and I was almost there but numerous fails withered my determination to complete it. I had been on numerous snowboarding trips up north and I had seen plenty of people perform and the trick was very simple, you can jump in the air without a snowboard and do a 360 and land easily but, with a 20 to 25 pound piece of wood wrapped in fiberglass and metal lining it's not so easy anymore! Or at least when I was 12. The trick about a simple thing as this with a board is to use momentum and speed to turn, its a mixture of speed and air to perform a clear clean 360’ turn on a snowboard,

I remember when I was in a league of football that was 4th to 6th grade and when I first started out I was basically a 3rd stringer who never really saw any playing time except for when the team was winning by a landslide and there was no risk for the loss, but the year after that I had gotten better, I had grasped a better understanding for the game through watching football and asking questions and the more practices we had the better I got. The next year I came out with an edge compared to others, But I was still 2nd string, As I kept going the next year I ended up starting and I never left the field, I started on defense, offense, all special teams and as tiring as it was, it was more satisfying. It was a great relief, I had completed what I set out to do.

At the moment of that night it was getting late and I had been attempting all night, It felt as though I had tried a couple hundred times, I was sitting down on this hill filled with rails and boxes scattered about, On the left there was a “tow rope” so when you reach the bottom you can grab the rope and it will pull you all the way up to try whatever you were doing again, so it was perfect for attempting a simple trick, it was one of those nights where it was so cold even the regular ski/snowboarding jacket was not enough on its own and those were pretty heavy, I wore a another sweatshirt on the inside and I had my hands tucked in my pockets or my sleeves at all times but I was ready to go again because I was mentally in the place to try again and again until I had it, I would not give up, I had wiped out plenty of times and it was embarrassing but all I would say is “Hey man i'm learning”

  When I was little I played video games all the time, I was not good, I lost to a lot of racing games to my cousins and over time I gradually got better… and better… and soon; I could beat anyone. I thought of that situation like this one.

I stand up on the hill with other people crowded around me on this hill and I think to myself “This one.” I start up, I hit the rail that was on the path to the lip, and then as I hit the ground i speed another 30 meters towards the lip, I immediately after hitting the lip, bend my knees real low, I get towards the end and i push off the lip with all my might, throw my hands around clockwise and land facing the same direction I entered the lip, I turn around and throw my hands up in the air in success, a couple of my buddies that I had been snowboarding with congratulated me because I was the first one to do it. I realized that I can’t always do everything perfectly the first try, and it takes time and practice to perfect something.

3 years later i'm sitting at the top of pinery, with my new board and blue jacket, I was ready to hit my jump: I stand up speed down the hill and go up the quarter pipe lip and throw a 360, land it and move along casually, As I speed away I think back to when I was first learning the trick and I it's because of my realization about myself 3 years ago that I can do the things I can now.