Over the winter break, I spent most of my time here in Amherst in my cute little apartment while my roommates were back at their homes. I had so much fun learning how to live all by myself, but that being said… six weeks alone will drive anyone crazy! I found myself picking up new hobbies left and right when finally, I found the ultimate party trick to practice and perfect.
I work at the YMCA’s welcome desk every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 5 a.m. – 9 a.m. every week. During those hours, there isn’t much action for me to take on, no phones ringing for me to answer, and not many people coming up to sign up for a membership, so during these hours of dawn I usually work on homework or read during my shift.
This all changed when my coworker clocked in and began juggling. She was like a pro, all three balls weaving in the air in harmony. She seemed so focused yet made it look so effortless. A goal of mine I’d had since childhood was now a lot closer to reaching than it was before. I knew I had to take this opportunity and learn the ultimate party trick.
My coworker let me borrow her equipment until mine came in the mail and within a week I was up and juggling. Every week I had a new goal, the first week was to get to ten circuits of ball tosses, the next week was 20, then 30, all the way until I completed 100 circuits in a row. What kept me so motivated? I would like to say it was the thrill of the toss, but to be honest, once you get familiar with the motions involved it becomes kind of easy and routine. But what kept me going was the life improvements. I first noticed my reaction time had improved just from driving around. I noticed I wasn’t slamming on my breaks nearly as much. I then noticed I was reading faster and for longer periods of time, it felt like my attention span had improved significantly. I also noticed my memory getting better. I found myself losing items around the house less and remembering dates more.
It has been about one month since I began juggling and I do it almost every day. I totally notice these improvements increase every day as I continue to practice. So if sudoku and crosswords aren’t really your thing but you still wanna make sure you are buffing up your memory skills, maybe try picking up juggling. You will find that when you’re learning it, it is quite addictive.
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