Southampton

It’s amazing how many memories can be associated with one place. But unlike Warminster, which I visited every day for school, Southampton was only visited occasionally. Is it that infrequent visits produce more poignant memories?

I used to travel to Southampton quite often with my cousin, James, five years ago. We were young and our main aspiration was to be skateboarders. Although I’d like to say we were amazing – we weren’t. At best we were average and, in fact, we spent most of our time chatting and lying around in the sun. , That said, I could pull off a decent heelflip.  But it was no surprise I kept a precautionary second profession. Being a famous guitarist was always an available option should skateboarding fail.

Dropping in at the deep end.

However, the difference between my cousin and I is a striking memory for me and still is. In skateboarding, to skate in from the top of a half pipe to the bottom is known as ‘dropping in’. Throughout three years of skating, I could never accomplish this actually quite basic skill. Even from a drop of about four feet, it was still a daunting task. I believe it was the risk of being hurt – I wasn’t prepared to be hurt to achieve my goal. But my cousin was. James was a significantly better skateboarder than I.

So I worked hard to try and overcome my fear. I remember spending five hours at a half pipe near where I lived simply rolling up and down the sides, trying to psyche myself up for the fall. Not once did I 

actually try it.

And I regret not trying it. I wasn’t prepared to take the risk, and I was worse off because of it.

Would you take the risk?

Although I’ve used an example in the past that obviously didn’t have a huge effect on me (I’ve become neither a professional skateboarder nor a famous guitarist), taking risks is an extremely important part in our lives. Risks add excitement to our lives – jumping onto a train that’s just about to leave or driving at 80mph in a 60. But they can also be beneficial – we can speak out in class when we usually would have stayed quiet. We can experiment with our work and try to produce something completely new.

e e cummings was infamous for his experimentation with poetry

When I write poetry, I often take inspiration from famous poems that have already been published. But when drafting it, I try to experiment with form and language – I try to create something I’ve never seen before. If I don’t take risks with my work, then I will never know if it works. I will be no better off than if I had simply stuck with what I’d seen before.

With skateboarding, as I said, I regret not even trying. But how many other times has this happened? Rather than staying at home, we could have taken a risk, joined a society at University and met new people. Personally, I know that taking risks is something I’ve strived to do at University, and it’s certainly paid off.