“I think about the future a lot. It stresses me out.”

Your future, or the future of the world?
“Both. And I don’t know what to focus on. That’s the frustration. I get stressed out very easily. I think I focus on everything too much, all at once. If I’m struggling financially, in school, with relationships, all of that, I feel like I’ve got to fix everything right now. 

“I try to keep telling myself that I’m still young. There are people around me who are getting married or having kids. And I’m like, that’s fine. Everybody moves at their own pace. 

“I saw something on Facebook that helped. It was like, what you’re stressing about and wanting to be out of right now is exactly what you were looking forward to a year ago. That kind of puts things into perspective.”

— Troy Breaux-Hare

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“My dad always wanted me to be a pro baseball player. It came pretty natural to me, and I was in select baseball growing up. But I decided to give it up heading into high school.

“I’m really into skateboarding and photography. My mom’s pretty supportive. She likes my photos. My dad is kind of like, whatever. It can be hard sometimes. Even if I had taken a famous photograph, like that National Geographic shot of the Afghan girl, he still would probably say, ‘You could have been a baseball player.’

“But I’m just trying to stay focused. I want to move to California where skateboarding and photography are really big.

“I want to be a sports photographer, but focused on skateboarding. If I’m able to save enough money, I expect to be out there within two years. Actually, whether I have all the money I need or not, I’ve just got to go and try to make it. And if it doesn’t work out once I’m there, well, at least I tried. It’s my dream.”

— Jose Martinez, 21

Check out some of Jose’s photography.

The post Photography and skateboarding — it’s his dream appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“After I graduated high school, I started a skateboard company and helped sponsor kids here that deserved it. I helped some of them go on tour.

“Then I had a daughter; she’s 2 now. Skateboarding is still a passion but it’s hard to find time to come out here, what with working 12s at the plant and having her.

“I went to court to fight for as much visitation as I could get. She’s amazing. Spending time with her is my focus right now.”

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“I started getting tattoos when I was 14. Now I have them on my legs, chest, back and neck.

“The first one I got was my last name on my stomach, because I look up to my dad and mom. They came here from Mexico and they struggled. When I was young, I never asked them for anything. I knew we didn’t have much money, but they always provided food on the table and a roof over our heads. That tattoo really means a lot to me. It’s for them.”

Related:

• ‘I was in a hole and didn’t think I would come up’

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How often do you visit the skate park?
“We come out every day. We stay all day.”

How do you feel about summer ending and school starting?
“It sucks!”

The post They’d much rather skate than go back to school appeared first on The Baytown Project.