Bengal Bios: Skater girl

Syanne Johnson, Special Contributor|January 24, 2017

Syanne Johnson
Sophomore Keixy Rosado practices her skateboarding moves near the BHS practice field. Rosado, who counts skateboarding and gaming among her hobbies, recently started practicing the sport again after a long break. “I skateboarded when I was little. I got frustrated, but I decided to try again,” she said.

She is usually sitting at the back of the classroom, one hand supporting her head, the other scribbling notes as she listens to the lecture.

She is not loud — quite the opposite. She’s a realist who admits she doesn’t have any big plans to change the world or get rich.

“Life is like Tetris,” 15-year-old sophomore Keixy Maldonado said. “You gotta let all the pieces fall together. That’s my thinking.”

Maldonado spends much of her downtime skateboarding and playing video games. She is in the E-sports club at Braswell, where she enjoys practicing her favorite games.

And, she adds, she is learning not to be a quitter.

“I skateboarded when I was little,” she said. “I got frustrated, but I decided to try again.”

One of her favorite pastimes is to longboard or skateboard. She doesn’t know why, she said with a shrug.

“Just ‘cause,” she said.

Maldonado can often be found in the E-sports club room playing “Call of Duty” with the other members. She said she likes to observe her teammates’ aggressive natures and their many “rage quits.” With the club, as with most things, she stays laid back, reserved. Some days, she says, she’s not even sure why she joined.

“I guess to try something new,” she said. “Get outside my comfort zone.”

Maldonado, like many people, does not quite open up on first meeting. It takes time, she said, but once she opens up, she will laugh and joke all day.

“I’m shy in the classroom, but loud with my friends,” she said. “They probably think I’m annoying.”