Skatepark Proposal Essay Sample
The past two years have been intense for many people around the world, and they have responded to it in different ways. One of the many ways people have responded to the struggles of these past few years is to pick up new or old hobbies or join support groups. Many people have either gone back to skateboarding or picked it up as a way to cure boredom, myself included. Now that most restrictions have been lifted, people are getting back together with their friends and communities to share their interests. Here at WCU, the skating community is extremely tightknit. However, one of the main problems it faces is that there is nowhere on campus as a designated skating ground, as it is forbidden. Many students are affected because they rely on skating for transportation or to just have fun and connect with people. It would be much easier for you and the students involved if there was a designated spot on campus near the Norton field area where people could skate without consequences.
Finding a safe place to skateboard without bothering anyone proves to be a difficult challenge. This problem tends to be an everyday situation since people who skate struggle to find somewhere to participate safely. It can happen anywhere and every day on campus, but mainly in parking lots and areas with smooth pavement or potential jumps for tricks. Because there is the added stress of trying to avoid trouble but still skate, there can be long-lasting problems for the community. Some short-term obstacles would be students would repeatedly get in trouble because they are not allowed to skate there, and whatever consequences deemed would follow. Long-term consequences would involve separation from close friends and the negative feelings that follow.
Especially with Covid, people need reasons and ways to be with and connect with each other. At Stanford University, a group of students formed a group to combat the struggles quarantine had by skating together. However, with campus rules blatantly outlawing skateboarding on campus it is extremely hard to meet and fellowship together (Talley). Without this problem, the skating community would be much closer and would have more opportunities to come together and have fun without the risk of getting in trouble. You, being Dean of the Division of Student Affairs, would benefit as well since you would not have to constantly be on the lookout for people skating where they should not be. The mission of the Division of Student Affairs is to serve WCU “…by facilitating, planning and implementing programs and services that create a dynamic campus community” (Western Carolina University). You would be supporting students’ pursuit of hobbies and creativity, which would, in turn, promote well-being and a want to learn, becoming beneficial in the long run. The risk of skaters running into people walking on campus would be substantially lower and would promote campus safety as well. For this future to be a reality, changes must take place as soon as possible.
It is important to fix this problem because the university would be much more peaceful without skaters “disrupting” campus life and getting in trouble. If there was a designated spot for skaters close to campus and of good quality, it would be an amazing time for people of that community to come together and just skate and have fun. It would also be a place out of the main heart of campus where newcomers could learn peacefully and without fear of getting in trouble. The average cost to build a skatepark is about $50 per square foot (CostHack). A 3,000-square-foot skating park would cost about $75,000 to $125,000 but only support a few skaters at a time, so it is not ideal (CostHack). An 8,000-square-foot skate park would cost anywhere from $200,000 to $480,000 and support a community of about 65 people at a time, so somewhere in the middle would benefit this university most (CostHack). In 2018, when WCU was first planning to build its parking deck, it was estimated that the university would spend around $26 million on this project, so a skatepark is substantially less expensive (Kays). There is a large area near Norton and The Village that is just a field, which I think would be a great place for a skatepark. If this problem was not fixed, it would only be a cycle of the same thing: fear of getting caught and rebellion on the skaters’ end, and annoyance and irritation on your end. It would be much easier for everyone involved if a designated spot on campus was put aside for people to skate.
People have turned to different distractions and ways of coping to deal with the struggles this past year has thrown at the people of this earth, one of them being skating. If students at this university are not allowed to pursue their interests, as long as those interests are not harmful to others, it could be extremely harmful to those students. A skatepark would be extremely beneficial to students because it would be a private place close by for us to hang out and explore common interests. Building a skatepark on campus would be exceedingly advantageous in the long run for both students and faculty because it inspires community involvement and wellness in the student body. Thank you for taking time out of your day to read my proposal.
