Marvin Shaw, a recent graduate of Rutgers, lives in southwest Philadelphia. Shaw majored in criminal justice while he studied at Rutgers in New Jersey. But he isn’t what you might picture as a typical law enforcement kind of guy.
In addition to working in his chosen field of law Shaw skateboards professionally. We caught up with Shaw and a group of his friends in the parking lot of the popular shopping center at Penrose Plaza in Eastwick earlier this week.
He and his fellow skateboarding friends float from parking lots to parks in all corners of Philadelphia looking for great places to try out new tricks on their skateboards.
Shaw out into a single file line with his friends while one set up his video camera on the ground and angled it toward a make shift ramp. One by one the skaters kicked their boards into action and attempted various tricks on the ramp.
They laughed and poked fun at each other. Some of them toppled to the ground creating loud crashing noises along the way and other landed their stunts with wide grins across their faces.
“I’ve been skating forever. I actually do it professionally, “ Shaw told us in between congratulating his friend on a trick well done.
It was just as hard to pull Shaw way from his skating adventures as you might have imagined. He even remained on his skateboard while he chatted with us. He swayed back and forth on the skateboard as we chatted about the kinds of tricks he’s mastered and the ones he’s still working on.
While many Philadelphians are struggling to find work during these hard economic times, Marvin Shaw has found a way to put his degree to use and to hold on to his passion for skateboarding.
“There wasn’t any way that I’d go through all that college and not use my degree. It took too much work to earn that thing,” Shaw said.
Shaw spends much of his time having fun with friends and traveling around on his skateboard, but he knows when he needs to focus on work too. As we walk away from Shaw he returns to his friends and skates to the back of the line for his chance to nail a new trick.
Adia Barboza and Danielle Dorwart, Group 23, Eastwick
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