Letter to a Friend (500 words)

Dear Courtney,
Things are so different here at UCF than back home. It is a huge campus and people are always rushing around the place. Just the other day at the student union I almost got run over by this guy on a skateboard. I was very startled by the boy and I didn’t know how to react, I am sure you can imagine my clumsy self trying to dodge a skateboard. First you have to understand what the student union feels like to me. It is swarming with people rushing around and it is almost impossible to walk without hitting someone. This is a given that if you are skateboarding, you are probably going to hit someone. Even though the student union is a huge space, it feels so incredibly small with all of the people around you. Anyway, the poor guy looked so embarrassed. I would have been to if I almost ate concrete in front of everyone! After the incident I started wondering… How many injuries are caused by skateboarders? I would think quite a few because that same day I saw skateboarders run into multiple walkers. I understand the campus is so big and spread out and a skateboard helps to be on time to class but I feel it’s not hard to look out for people who are walking. You might also be thinking… How do other people feel about this situation? My friend Kellsey said she felt annoyed at the situation because she almost got crushed twice in one day. Can you believe that? Just walking around and almost getting run over, not ONCE but TWICE in just one day. During the situation at the student union, I saw the faces of the passersby and noticed people weren’t surprised by the situation. I was wondering how many other people this occurred to so I began asking people in my English class. Multiple people said they have experienced being chased off the sidewalk by skateboarders. In one case, someone had tire marks on their foot. Then I started thinking… When this situation happens, who is at fault? It’s hard to say because the sidewalk is for everyone. Skateboarders should look out for walkers because sometimes they come right from behind you so the walkers can’t see them. Skateboarders could give a warning instead of creeping up for behind you. I feel sometimes they scare you on purpose. I was thinking, is there a fix to this problem? Could there be a division in the sidewalk for walkers and skateboarders? In some places there is a different section of the road for bicycles could there be added room for skateboarders? I think if there was a fix to this problem, this would be the way to fix it. UCF couldn’t ban skateboarding, people have to be able to get around someway and it would be very unfair to say skateboarders couldn’t get around the way they choose. Don’t forget, UCF is a very spread out campus and walking from one end to the other takes a while.