On the day that the majority of people in the country celebrate friendship and love, I decided to experiment with a new activity. I decided to try a new endeavor that would dramatically hurt my body composition. My brother-in-law invited me to ride in a blanket of snow using no protection other than a warm pair of gloves, snow boots, water resistant clothes, and a snowboard. Never before had my body experienced such a great force of nature called gravity, pulling my body against the cold, wet, ground, reminding me of the vulnerability of my body in comparison to the magnitude of Mother Nature. Neophyte to riding snowboards, I was not prepared for the radiating aches my body would endure for the following days. I bravely rode up the slope with my brother-in-law and when the time came to jump off and ride, I fell to the ground and crawled away from the incoming riders. My legs were shaking and I had not a single ounce of balance. When I started to slide down the hill, within a few seconds gravity would drag my body down to the icy cold snow, while other riders gracefully rode beside me. At one point, I fell on my back and hurt my coccyx to the extent that all I could see was black and for a split second I thought I had fractured several bones. This led me to a moment of reflection, in which I had to sit on my board and ponder the decision that I had made. This encompassed the majority of my riding experience, until finally my limbs and core began to coordinate and I was able to ride my snowboard. When I rode, I felt as though I was flying; my body felt free; I forgot about the pains and aches; all I could focus on was the beauty of the white snow and the scenery of nature around me. It was one of my most painful, yet breathtaking experiences.
David Acevedo is a student at San Jose State University.
The Bolt Magazine 