Each week, we’ll hear a new This I Believe essay – this time by Erin Blakemore. A few years ago, she felt lost, living in a new city and working an unfulfilling job. So on a whim she joined a local roller derby team. Although she hadn’t skated in years, Blakemore says the sport gave her the confidence to face life’s scariest challenges. After co-founding the Denver Roller Dolls, Blakemore hung up her skates in 2007. She lives and works as a marketing consultant in Boulder, Colorado, where she cheers on her sister skaters as a rabid roller derby fan. Blakemore’s debut book, The Heroine’s Bookshelf, was published by Harper in 2010.
Click here to read a transcript and to listen to her essay.
Click here for guidelines to submit your own statement of beliefs.