Juggling club is all about fun
Written by Samantha Gentzel, Nov 25, 2012, 0 Comments
Founded in the spring semester of 2011, the Juggling Club has promoted a positive message of fun, community and tossing stuff around.
“People learn how to do new and crazy things in college, and juggling is one of them,” said Lena Wray, founder and president of the Juggling Club.
Wray, 20, had one major goal when starting the club.
“It’s just about fun,” said Wray, as she juggled three balls with ease.
While the organization is still new, it is receiving growing support from the USFSP community. The club recently accepted a grant of $180 to purchase new juggling balls.
Although the Juggling Club may sound intimidating to those with no experience, Wray assures that none is required. Newcomer Meggan Harrington joined the club at the beginning of the fall semester of 2012 and is perfecting her juggling technique. Harrington, a freshman majoring in environmental science, joined to learn a new skill, but found something more.
“It was a whole new group of people to talk to,” Harrington said.
Even though the Juggling Club has not held any public performances outside of campus, they hope to one day regularly perform in the community. “We currently have varying levels of experience, so we’re working on that,” Wray said.
On the more experienced end of the Juggling Club is Daniel Brown. Brown, 19, first learned to juggle in December 2006. He has since competed internationally, and has been featured on television networks such as Bay News 9, Fox News and ESPN.
While Brown knows that juggling can influence him on a personal level, he also believes it can benefit other students as well.
“They can learn better hand-eye coordination. Juggling increases the amount of gray matter in the brain,” Brown said.
“Juggling is one of the few activities that forces your brain to use both the left and the right side at the same time,” Wray said. “It’s a good idea for students to take a break while studying, and juggle for a few minutes. It gets the brain flowing again.”
Juggling Club meetings are held in the University Student Center in either Ballroom 1 or Ballroom 2 every Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Contact Lena Wray at lwray@mail.usf.edu.
Photo by Lena Wray.
