Grant senior Max SB (SB) stares at the stairway railing with intense concentration. While most people might just see a bland metal railing, SB sees a problem in need of a solution. As SB analyzes the railing, he calculates the degree at which he needs to hit it , the angle he needs to take, the air time he will need to balance the board, what muscle movements he needs to perform to rotate and flick the board and the speed at which his feet need to move. This trick is a mathematical equation and he’s set on solving it.
Grant senior Max Josephson, known as Maxsb (derived from the acronym for skateboarding and snowboarding) lives a passion-driven life. From snowboarding, to foreign languages, to philosophy, math and science, SB strives to live life to the fullest. At the nexus of his interests lies his greatest passion: skateboarding.
Skating combines many of SB’s favorite things — it allows him to apply math and physics to everyday life, meet new people, learn new things and physically and mentally challenge himself. “(Skateboarding) is just a great, unique opportunity to learn and get better at something,” SB explains, “And that’s why I’m very passionate about it.”
Equipped with an acute sense of self and personal values, SB has never tried to fit into a box. In elementary school, SB’s eccentricity made him an easy target for bullies. “I was interested in school, but I also loved sports. And that’s where a lot of people drew the line,” he says. “There’s the nerds, and then there’s the sporty kids who always get in trouble. I got kind of stuck in the middle of that. It was just hard to find a balance.”
When SB tried to play sports with the athletic kids, he was often teased for the way he looked and made fun of behind his back. When he chose to spend time with the kids he shared other interests with, the intellectual stimulation didn’t fully compensate for the lack of physical activity.
For SB, the skateboarding community offers everything that his elementary school environment lacked. He is able to experience physical stimulation while also forming meaningful friendships. Its diversity and social nature excites and motivates SB.
“There isn’t just one type of skateboarder,” SB says, “There’s skateboarders who also are EMTs, there are skateboarders who are working on their law degree. There are skateboarders who also do martial arts, like me.” Skateboarding offers the diverse and caring community that SB always yearned for.
SB has been skateboarding throughout his whole childhood, but it wasn’t until February, 2020, that he got seriously into the activity. Less than a month later, the pandemic hit, leaving SB with a lot of free time to dive into skateboarding. Looking back, he reflects on how the activity was vital in aiding him through the isolation of quarantine.
As COVID-19 restrictions loosened, SB began going to skateparks. He immediately felt at home. “I just like going out with my friends, I like seeing other people skate, I like the vibe of it all,” he says.
Skateboarding has led SB to be much more socially adventurous, accepting and less judgemental of people. He loves that it is such a social activity, and that it gives him common ground with so many varied and interesting people. “There’s so much that skateboarders talk about. It definitely creates a more open and welcoming environment for everyone,” he says.
Skateboarding is not only a valuable social opportunity for SB; it has also become a mental and emotional outlet that he has grown to rely on. “Skateboarding can be therapeutic. But it also can be, like, a little more,” he says. “Like, when I get good grades: go out skateboarding. Don’t have any work to do: go out skateboarding. Having a tough time in school: skateboarding. Having a tough time in life: skateboarding. Skateboarding is something I did no matter what.”
SB couldn’t imagine life without a desire to skate. But when his grandmother passed in January, 2021, the loss took an unexpected toll on him. SB’s grandmother was someone that he looked up to immensely and he always looked forward to talking with. She encouraged him to progress and push his limits. It wasn’t until her death that SB realized how much he had utilized her advice throughout his skateboarding journey.
After her death, SB began to struggle with feeling motivated, both academically and socially. “The thing is, usually when that stuff happens, I go out and skate to help myself out,” SB says. But during the following weeks, SB couldn’t even muster the motivation to skateboard.
SB recalls how when he eventually began to skate again, he was able to let out his feelings about his grandmother in a more positive way. “When I finally got back to it … I felt so in the zone. I felt very motivated by my grandmother’s legacy,” he says.
This experience led SB to recognize that skateboarding is a powerful tool of motivation both in and outside of the sport, especially because of the sport’s opportunistic nature. There is always opportunity to achieve a new trick or improve on an old one, which continuously energizes and inspires SB. He adds that this exact motivation carries over outside of skateboarding, contributing to his core values of self-improvement and perseverance. In his academic and social life, SB incorporates his core belief by striving to be as knowledgeable and virtuous as he can. He firmly believes in the power of knowledge and the importance of one’s personal journey towards virtuosity and kindness.
Skateboarding has become the backbone of SB’s life. He loves every aspect of it, from the physical stimulation, to the feeling of success after landing a trick, to all of the social aspects of the community. For SB, it will always be so much more significant than just a trending teenage hobby.
“Skateboarding, for me, it’s a lifestyle,” he says, “I’ll take my skateboard to my grave.”
