There are many students that have hidden talents. Not only do these students work hard every day, they do everything that they can to get higher up, and promote their talent.

Tristan Slack and William Cleveland spend day after day, hour after hour dedicating themselves to what they hope to achieve. The two are signed skateboarders representing Here Skate Shop in Beebe, Arkansas.

“For me, I think its a huge deal, not many people get the chance to, I guess you could say, throw themselves out there the way William and I did,” said skateboarder Tristan Slack.

For most other students having to be signed and working to where you want to be, may or may not be worth the struggles and hardships.

“I can’t see why you wouldn’t go for it, by that I mean if your given the chance to do something you love and be recognized for working so hard, then why would you not take that extra step,” skateboarder William Cleveland asked.

Neither skateboarder feels he is missing out because of all the he is required to do each day.

“I don’t think that I’m missing out at all, actually. During the summer, we fill every other day or so and when that’s being done, all of my friends end up showing up and we all skate together, so thats always fun,” said Cleveland. “During the school year, my board is my transportation, so I might as well get used to it.”

“For me, there is no missing out at all. I always have fun skating; it’s pretty much my whole life; its my everything,” Slack stated.

The students are very pressed because of all of the things that have to be done every day.

Most other students don’t think that its much hard work for one to be involved in skating, but Cleveland and Slack had other ideas about the controversy.

“Skating and being signed is very hard work, it’s not like we do nothing at all, I honestly have no clue why you would think that there isn’t much going on, or to do, because there isn’t a time when I’m not doing something,” Cleveland explained.

“Every single day I get up, go to school, do some work, I get out, then I skate for hours among hours,” Slack explained.

The two spend day after day working on tricks, skating, and encouraging each other to work harder and never give up.

“It is a continuous thing for me. Every now and then we have Hero’s call us and ask us to film, and when we film, what we basically do, is we go somewhere in town and we skate, show off our tricks, or anything else we can do. Every few months, Heros posts a video of my friends and I skating, ” Slack explained.

The two lose out on multiple things to do exactly what they love.

“I miss out on birthdays, and parties, school events, and sometimes even my friend’s, but everyone understands because they realize how much I care for skating, its my life,” Cleveland said.

Slack and Cleveland have many things that they love about skating for Hero Skate Shop, and many things that they don’t like also.

“My favorite thing to do, and I think that I speak for William also, is test my own limits. I have so much fun. We love the rush and danger, it’s not something most would enjoy out of everything, but I’m just myself. I can’t really change it,” Slack explained.

“The worst part to me, would have to be when I fall, I can’t stop it,” stated Cleveland. “If I try to stop it then, I’ll probably hurt myself even more. It stinks, but you have to do in order to learn.”

Slack explained that much of his inspiration came from those around him.

“My friends are my inspiration. They tell me all the time that they are extremely proud of me and my new trick, or whatever it is that Im doing that day, they always say that Im the best which I know isn’t true but its always great to hear,” Slack said.

When asked if they have ever run into problems with skating, while skating, Slack and Cleveland  had a few things to say.

“My mom, has always been very nervous when Im doing something new, or skating somewhere new, because all in all, its very foreign to me,  but most of the time, she is very supportive, as are the rest of my friends, but thats one of the real problems that I end up running into, ” Slack explained.

“The main problem that I really just hate is having to find a place to skate, because there are places that have that ‘ No skating ‘ policy, we have to test everyones limits, but its never bad, ” Cleveland said.

Sometimes when skating with friends the two tend to get into a little bit of trouble.

“The most trouble that I have ever gotten into, is one time a few friends and I were out filming at the football stadium, and apparently you aren’t supposed to skate there, and we had someone actually come all the way out there and get a mega phone, and yell at us to get off of property, we got it all on film, at the time I was really upset, but now its pretty funny, because there wasn’t a sign that told us not to skate, ” Cleveland explained.

“The most trouble that I’ve gotten into was, one day William and I were skating with our friend’s Phillip, and Trevor, well we had gone like three hours with out drinking, so we went to a gas station, and got a drink, well we didn’t have a ride at the moment, so we were waiting on the side of the gas station, because it was shaded, an they told us to leave because we were ‘ being suspicious ‘,” Slack said.

Slack had many things that he finds hard about skating.

“I think that the worst part is finding time to do everything, when I skate, I am very particular, I guess you could say that I am OCD, about one thing, and one thing only and thats how I look skating.”

All in all both of the students seem to have their mind set on what exactly, they want to do with their free time, and any other chance that they get, no matter what the circumstances.

“Its what I live for, and I wouldn’t change my paths, or choices to skate, in any way,” Slack stated.