Rolling with the Punches
- Sunnie Lee, Brooke Sumners, Wendy Lopez
- Aug 9, 2018
- 3 min read
AUSTIN, Texas — For 20-year-old Gary Aaron, going off to college was more like setting off a ticking time bomb.
Aaron started out at the the University of Texas at Austin in 2016 as a member of the band and as an aspiring archaeologist. Attempting to keep up with his course load and extracurriculars left his mental and physical health on the backburner.
“I barely ate. I remember there were times when I would stay up for two or three days straight. I was degrading,” Aaron said.
Back to the wall, he reached a breaking point and kept finding reasons to quit. Coming from a small town and a graduating high school class of about 250, Aaron felt alone for the first time in his life. Until he realized, he had his roller skates.
“After starting to skate around campus I was immediately better. I had this newfound purpose,” Aaron said. “Skating turned my college experience around.”
Aaron picked up skating after his father gifted him his first pair in high school. However, those skates were custom golden artistic skates not made for the outdoors.
“I started looking up different videos and stats for skating as well as different wheel types to see what people actually do with them,” Aaron said.
After extensive research of roller skating in general, Aaron stumbled upon the phenomenon of jam skating.
“I didn’t start putting breakdancing and skating together until I started seeing videos on YouTube. I knew I could do it because I liked music, I had rhythm and I had some sort of street dance experience, so I started to perform,” Aaron said.
Through jam skating, Aaron begun to grow an audience, even releasing a YouTube video (linked below) of his act. He even got on the university-wide snapchat story where his reputation was born.
“I had to re-download snapchat because people kept messaging me about the story. I didn’t know how to react to the attention,” Aaron said. “Now I do it to get that reaction because it serves as that release whenever I feel stressed.”
On top of this, skating gave Aaron a niche community which grew his identity as well as his confidence.
Although his coping mechanism is unique, Aaron and his initial transitional hardships were not an isolated incident.
Recent studies show that the compounded stresses of college are taking an increasing toll, especially on first-year students.
In spring 2017, over 40% of college students reported that they had felt “felt so depressed that it was difficult to function” and about 60% had felt “overwhelming anxiety,” according to a survey done by the American College Health Association.
UT students are no exception.
Thanh Sy, a UT Resident Assistant of three years, says that most students do feel overwhelmed when they first arrive.
“It is a perfect storm of living away from home for the first time, a rigorous academic schedule and the bustling city of Austin that makes it difficult for students to adjust,” Sy said.
However, Sy says he has seen the best improvement among students who find a smaller community on campus.
UT offers its Counseling and Mental Health Center where students can find therapists and psychiatric help. Students also have access to resources through Student Affairs to create smaller communities, like Aaron’s.
Check out Aaron's debut video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFl8J46sKxw
Not all wheels are made the same on roller skates. Different materials, thicknesses and durabilities allow for skating on varying surfaces.