Something that makes an individual themselves is what they enjoy doing. Ryland O’hanlon,12, has been a fan of the Rubix cube since middle school.
“I had a friend and we found out we both did it and he kind of introduced me to the more competitive side, and then I also had this friend in highschool which introduced us to tournaments and we got really into it,” O’hanlon said.
There are many other designs of a Rubix cube. Solving the device has events just like other sports.
“It’s kind of fun to see your times improve. I’ve also gotten into more challenging events such as three by three, blindfolded, those kinds of events, just because they are more intellectually challenging events,” O’hanlon said.
O’hanlon has gotten more serious with the skill over the years. They even try to attend competitions when they can.
“I haven’t been able to go to a ton of competitions recently since, over COVID, competitions have been less, but it’s definitely getting back into it. Over last year, I had a competition where I went down to Wichita with my dad and that’s where I got the two state records for the square one event,” O’hanlon said.
It may not be well known that solving Rubix cubes can be a competitive activity. One of the well known sports that requires many hours and is often underestimated is gymnastics.
“I started doing gymnastics when I was four. I started at rec, which is just like little kid gymnastics, and then now I am a level 10,” Tavia Shay, 10, said.
There are four events in competitive gymnastics: floor, bars, beam and vault. An athlete’s routine is scored out of 10 on each event. Striving for such a difficult goal requires practice.
“My favorite event is definitely floor, since it’s what I’m best at. Practices are five to seven hours, it just depends. In the summer, they’re more on the higher end because that’s when we get our new skills. In season it’s usually only five,” Shay said.
Gymnastics, being a high intensity sport, calls for strength in every area.
“We have a lot of different circuits. We split up between 20 minutes for abs, arms and legs, and we do a lot of leg lifts and do sets of pushups, we do a lot of cardio with things like tumbling. We do a lot of sprinting,” Shay said.
A relaxing activity that is popular among the student body is photography. Students have access to cameras, as the school offers many photography
classes.
“I just feel like it’s such a fun way to picture how beautiful our world is, and you can take stuff like the photos on my Instagram; they’re from my moms car in the 80s, and normally that wouldn’t be something that’s very visually appealing, but with photography you can take it and make it something beautiful instead of a old, ratty car,” Channing Kice, 10, said.
Everything can be a subject for photography. For Kice, they prefer capturing nature.
“In sports, it’s really hard because if you don’t catch that specific moment it’s like, ‘Oh dang it, I missed it,’ but in nature you can take photos over and over and you have opportunities to get different angles,” Kice said.
No matter what one’s hobby is, it is a great way to get to know someone. A hobby can be easy and relaxing, or it can take hard work and effort. Pastimes are important to have as it builds character and can reduce stress.
