Sk8r Grl
She believes in herself, even when the odds are stacked against her.
Most teenagers arent sure what they want to be when they grow up and thats totally normal.
Many of us adults are still figuring it out too.
Yet at 14,Leticia Bufoniwasnt justthinkingabout her dream career.
She was already establishing herself as a professional skateboarder on an international scale.
As the only girl in the skate park, Bufoni was determined to prove herself, practicing every day.
No part of skateboarding was easy, and that was exactly why she loved it.
Today, Bufoni is one of the most well-known and celebrated skateboarders in existence.
That even includes the 2023 record of the highest skateboard grind outside the back of a flying aircraft.
At the time, social media and the Internet werent as readily available as they are now.
Once he watched it, he stopped pressuring her to quit.
Today, its important for Bufoni to be the representation she didnt have as a young child in Brazil.
The amazing weather, proximity to beaches, and large skateboarding community didnt hurt, either.
Living far away from her family at the young age of 14 was challenging.
To make things more complicated, Bufoni didnt speak English.
Yet, her love for skateboarding outweighed her doubts and fears.
I was by myself in a different country, experiencing a different culture, she explains.
I couldnt speak the language, and I didnt know anyone.
It was really hard.
The challenges shes faced along the way have just made the winsthatmuch sweeter.
People were saying that I wasnt focusing on skateboarding anymore because I was doing some modeling and other things.
I wanted to prove them wrong, Bufoni said.
After so much backlash, the win was one of the best moments of my career, she said.
