USC skateboarding course merges business and fun

EXPOSITION PARK, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The University of Southern California continued their strong tradition of academic innovation and entrepreneurship through the newly offered course, "skateboarding business and culture."

"I know skateboarding is a bonding force for some many youth so for me to build this class is just taking advantage of what's already there," professor Neftalie Williams said.

The class is taught in the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and takes advantage of skateboarders' ability to create their own content.

"Through this class, I learned about the structure of the skateboarding world, like more of the business world, because we were able to bring in individuals who had many different titles... from CEOs to professional skaters to photojournalists," student Leah Rubi said.

"At the end of the day at midnight, when you're sitting there writing a piece, it's like 'Why am I doing this? It's because I love it,'" guest speaker Eric Hendrix, of Rolling Stone magazine, said.

As a man who was raised in the epicenter of skateboarding in Orange County in the 1970s, he shared his insight of turning his life-long passion into a profitable career.

"It just shows the growth and evolution of skateboarding -- the diversity the acceptance and how the community is beginning to embrace something that stemmed out of a small area just south of here in Orange County," Hendrix said.