Skateboards clash with the concrete. Laughter echoes through the air. Friends chatter without inhibition. All of this marks the presence of the Fresno State Skate community, or Skate FSU.
Think back to vibrant, fearless moments as a child where the tallest tree was only a colorful view with extra steps. Skaters pursue new heights with similar persistence, only now they’re balancing on boards instead of branches.
They skate at dusk, in daylight and darkness, unafraid of the pavement’s nasty bite awaiting them at the simple slip of a foot. That’s all it takes.
Chief Chilo
Adrian Ramos, or Chilo, founded Skate FSU to create a home for the skaters on campus.
Ramos is a senior majoring in business administration with an option in data analytics. He began skating two years ago, perfecting the art every chance he could.
“I used to always go around on my bike or I would go on runs or just exercise, and I was like, ‘skateboarding seems like cool cardio,’” Ramos said. “It started as that, and then I kind of fell in love with the sport.”
He explained that skateboarding transcends the superficial idea of doing tricks and checking 
skills off a to-do list. It has wheeled its way into his personal philosophy.
“Skateboarding is scary, and when you’re actually skateboarding to progress and you’re facing these obstacles, you’re learning to be okay with failure and to go again and again,” Ramos said. “You can fail – who cares? Do it anyway.”
For Ramos, fear seems to hold the same weight as a rose: spiky and red, but beautiful and light.
“Everybody’s scared, I mean, even the people who are really advanced at skateboarding are scared,” he said. “It’s just part of life, part of the game.”
The ancient Anglo-Saxons are to blame for not making “skateboarding” evolve to rhyme with “injury.” Ramos is no stranger to getting hurt, but the arms of skating aren’t so quick to let him go.
“I’ve sprained my ankles to where I can’t walk for a couple months, I’ve almost dislocated my wrist – just the usual skate stuff,” he said.
As he said before, it is a part of the game.
Though the sight of two dozen people performing kickflips and boardslides might appear intimidating, the campus community welcomes everyone, Ramos explained.
“We get people who went and bought a skateboard just to join us,” he said. “I’ve helped four people land their first ollies ever.”
Though Ramos is the founder and organizer of Skate FSU, he is not alone in the process.
The Vice
Liberal arts major Eric Costa is named by Ramos as the unofficial vice president of the community. Costa is also Fresno State’s brand ambassador for Rockstar energy drink.
“I met Chilo on campus handing out Rockstars,” Costa said. “Then we got to brainstorming [and said], ‘How sick would it be if we could just get a group chat of every skater on campus?’”
That group chat now has approximately 90 people in it; a small idea gone wild.
Similar to Ramos, Costa’s connection to skating is tied to the art of letting go.
“You’re just like, ‘nobody cares,’ you’re skating bro,” Costa said. “You’re just having fun with your friends, just making up whatever you want to do.”
Costa was introduced to skating as a child and recalls frequently skating with his neighbor. As with most passions, hardships are often forgotten in light of fond memories. No pain, no gain.
Costa shared a piece of advice to new, hesitant skaters.
“Don’t even feel stressed at all, just smile, you’re doing it right,” he said.
“Do a kickflip”
Skate FSU meets bi-weekly at different locations, which are announced through the official Instagram. The most recent session was at Todd Beamer skatepark or, as an outsider would see it, an overwhelming amount of cement and even more safety hazards.
Jaiden Castillo, a mechanical engineering major, attended. Similar to Costa, his experience with skating dates back to childhood.
“I grew up around a lot of skating and when I moved out here for Fresno State, I was looking for people to skate with,” Castillo said.
Castillo has been with Skate FSU since it started. Ramos, Castillo and the other members in attendance jump on their boards without worry. When they fall, they laugh and return to the ride.
“You have to know how to fall,” Ramos said.
Roughly a week before the Todd Beamer skatepark meeting, Ramos called an informal session in front of The Collegian office.
Giovanni Moreno, a music education major and freshman at Fresno State, spoke about his personal experience with Skate FSU.
“This group has a lot of meaning to me,” Moreno said. “They’re very open to me, compared to skating on your own, where it’s kinda lonely.”
Despite time’s restricting grasp on their schedules, the Skate FSU members keep coming back for more. For Moreno, it comes down to the community.
“When you have a group of people who are basically just uplifting you and encouraging you to improve yourself, it’s really an awesome feeling,” he said.
For a sport that can easily kickflip a person into the hospital, each skater relishes the calming effect that skating has on them.
“It’s a really good stress reliever,” Moreno said. “Just skate your stress away.”
