One scoop at a time - Will & Skye

Blogger's note: This post is part of our summer series, "Making the World Better One Scoop at a Time" where we highlight all the awesome things our people are doing to make our community, and the world, a better place.

Today we're featuring Will (L) and Skye (R). Will just graduated from Cornish College of the Arts and Skye is getting ready to head off to Western Washington University. Will has been motivated by his love of skateboarding and design, and Skye is excited to pursue her passion for the great outdoors. Here's what they had to say about their respective pursuits: 

Q&A with Will - Scooper in Capitol Hill

mm's: Congrats on graduating from Cornish! What inspired you to pursue design?
Will: I've been skateboarding since I was a kid, that was always something that I loved to do. That's what got me interested in design in the first place. Winter would roll around, and when it's raining you can't really skate. So my buddies and I would make skateboards. It's always been a love affair for me.

mm's: Can you tell us a little bit more about your thesis?
Will: The main focus of my project was building the identity of a skateboard company - the design, the branding and values. I've gotten tired of what skateboarding had become today. You see all these videos of kids doing super crazy tricks down 15 stairs, and that's just terrifying. Kids see that on YouTube or TV and they think, 'There's no way I could do that,' so they don't even try. But really, skateboarding is a free-form sport with no real rules. A lot of my project was focused on skateboarding as a fun, individual activity.

mm's: What are your hopes and dreams for your future?
Will: I think more kids should skateboard. It's better than sitting inside and playing those role-player shooter games. I think what kids spend their time doing has a big impact on how they develop socially. Skateboarding is full of obstacles, and it teaches perseverance. You come up against an obstacle and you have to think it through it, try to find a way around it. There's a possibility that I'll be making boards in the future, even if it's just a few every now and then out of my garage. But I'd love to make it into a full-blown company.

Q&A with Skye - Scooper in Madrona
mm's: So you’re headed off to Western Washington University soon to pursue environmental studies?
Skye: Yes! I'm super stoked to start at Western this year. I'm enrolling in the terrestrial ecology major in the school of environmental sciences.

mm's: So what made you want to pursue environmental sciences?
Skye: I love studying ecology; I've completed a naturalist training program and have taught myself as many of the native plant and animal species of the Pacific Northwest as I can.

mm's: What are your hopes and dreams for the future?
Skye: My dream is to be a field ecologist and be able to share how beautiful our corner of the world is, to help preserve it. I don't really know why it started, but I've always loved spending time outdoors and being in nature. For a few summers I've volunteered as an assistant camp-counselor for Wilderness Awareness School, which is a rad camp at Seward Park that gets kids engaged with the natural world.

mm's: Thanks Will & Skye! You guys are awesome, good luck with your pursuits!
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