User:Skate mate

Summary
skate_mate originally joined the Zelda Universe Community Forums on the 7th September 2003. Since that time he has remained a consistent poster although a few periods of inactivity have been known to sporadically occur. skate_mate is considered one of the Oldbies.

ZU Involvement & Influence

 * Real Name: Will
 * Born: 3rd January 1989
 * Lives: Brisbane, Australia. Sometimes Kobe and Saitama, Japan.
 * Religion: Protestant Christianity
 * Blog: willmbarker
 * ZU Profile: Right here
 * Interests: Protestant Christianity, science (primarily physics), video games (Nintedo ones =]), skateboarding, Japanese language, culture and entertainment.

Will's username originated rather spontaneously. He wanted to represent his passion for skateboarding as well as his outgoing, friendly nature in a quirky, unique name. Thus "skate_mate" was born. Prior to ZU Will was only active at skateboarding forums where seplling n grama are not in particular demand. Thus, when he came across the ZU community with its (*gasp*) correct usage of the English language he decided to sign up and sample this new type of forum-venturing. He came across ZU whilst acting on a strange impulse of nostalgia regarding LoZ:OoT.

The ZU Community, whether they know it or not, have impacted Will's life quite significantly. For example it was through ZU that Will was first introduced to anime and manga (and to a lesser degree computer generated artwork, thanks to the user Sir Chuc). Through this taste test of Japanese culture Will found himself spiralling into the wonderous world of J-music (Japanese music). It was due to this initial exposure to Japanese entertainment that Will started learning the Japanese language, which has become the focus of his life. The user Mercutio was a major initial inspiration for Will. Will has now been to Japan twice (once for 12 days, a second time for 2 months). In 2007 he will be undertaking 10 months of study at a Japanese high school in Saitama, Japan. You can check his progress at his blog.

Even moreso profound than Will's dedication to learning the Japanese language is the religious influence that ZU has had on Will's life. Will had often regarding Christianity (and religion in general) as an existensial leap in the dark, taken against reason or rather aside from it. Due to witnessing the strong apologetical efforts by various members on ZU, the awesomeness of some Christian members (BBD) and due to circumstances irl he eventually came to reconsider this view and, after many months of intellectual wrestling, he eventually became a Christian in September 2005.

Will has had contact with many ZU members irl. Most notably, the user Eijiro that was introduced to the forums by Mercutio has now become a close friend irl of Will's. Eijiro also studies Japanese. Coincidentally they are both studying in Japan next year as exchange students (although in different cities). Will has also met the user Sir Chuc irl when he flew up from the Australian city of Sydney (Eijiro also met him). With the users Tsukasa, Sir Chuc and Pandora, Will has exchanged snail mail.

Will is now found to be most often in the Community forums, most notably Internet: Serious Business.