gear up!

Skiing down large slopes; getting dressed in costumes; preparing for competitions. Juniors Ryn Ryan and Fern Woertink and eighth grader Axel Lehtinen’s hobbies are a way to destress and be themselves. Regardless of the time commitment or the motivation to keep working to get better, each hobby represents a piece of these UPA students.

Spending over 16 hours every weekend in Reno, Nevada, junior Ryn Ryan considers skiing her main hobby. Skiing is a sport that uses a pair of flattened sticks attached to the skiier’s feet to glide down a snowy mountain. Ryan leaves after school ends every Friday and drives for five to six hours to Mount Rose Ski where her coach and team meet weekly to practice their skills for upcoming competitions.

Rather than competing with her team, Ryan learns and trains with them and eventually competes against people from other teams, racing in pairs. Ryan’s team members are usually supportive and offer constructive criticism. If her posture is incorrect or she needs to lean more into a turn to complete it more effectively, her teammates will let her know. Her favorite part of skiing is the liberating sensation that it brings her when she is practicing and competing.

“It’s like freedom,” Ryan said. “Just flying down those hills and feeling the wind on my face.”

She first decided to pursue skiing because her mom signed her and her sister up for lessons at 12 years old, with the initial intent of an athletic outlet that happened to “just stick.” She skis with her sister weekly and often receives offers from extended family to come to Reno with her. Ryan’s family also brings their dogs, Luca and Matty, to Mount Rose on occasions.

She starts her day at 6 a.m., begins practice at 8 a.m. and ends her day of skiing at 4 p.m., glad to have not hurt herself or broken any bones.

While she enjoys skiing and spending time with her family, Ryan tends to miss out on activities such as school dances and birthday parties. Sometimes, it is upsetting that she cannot participate, but she remembers that she is fortunate to be able to ski as she feels it’s an amazing sport. Along with having to balance her sport and social life, at times, she has to stay up as late as 2 a.m. to finish school assignments that she is not able to complete in class. Additionally, paying for both the passes to the ski resort and the team itself creates challenges; however, she receives a lot of financial support from her family, who also positively reinforces her.

Ryan encourages everybody to try skiing as she feels it is extremely fun. She advises beginning skiers to watch out for faster skiers and snowboarders who are not very observant of passersby. Although she has been hit many times, she always gets back up. One of the greatest problems that she encounters when skiing is that she is very hesitant to try new slopes.

“I’m a very cautious skier,” Ryan said. “People have told me

Woertink was inspired by different fandoms and media that they enjoy when initially picking up cosplaying as a hobby. Seeing one of their friends and other people online dressing up as their favorite characters sparked interest in the activity. Woertink dressed up as many different characters including “The Penguin” from “Gotham,” and characters from “Our Flag Means Death” and “Danganronpa.” has to balance school work and social activities when finding time to cosplay, always trying to find time to do so because they enjoy it so much.

“It’s really easy to find a character that you like a lot and then try to portray them,” Woertink said.

“I see [cosplay] as an escape,” Woertink said. “Whenever I’m feeling stressed, it’s one of those things that I can go to.” that I am a ballerina on skis.”

She makes sure to view failure and success objectively. Ryan may make mistakes such as letting her nerves get in the way of a good run or achieving success, like winning in a competition against a more experienced competitor. At the end of the day, she aspires to work through failure and stay humble in the presence of success.

Junior Fern Woertink enjoys cosplaying in their free time. They may have been seen around campus in cosplay, especially since they won Best Individual costume on Oct. 28, 2022, during UPA’s “Halloween Costume Day.”

“It’s kind of like Halloween but whenever you want,” Woertink said. “You take your characters from a TV show or a movie or a game or anything really.”

Woertink shares videos and pictures of their cosplays on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok where competition is a part of the cosplay experience. They struggle with seeing other creators who can put more time or money into their costumes and makeup. On social media, they occasionally find themself comparing the amount of likes or views they get for their content to others.

Woertink finds using trial and error helps when working through parts of their cosplay that they do not like. They once cosplayed a character from “Danganronpa,” a Japanese video game series, three times, each a year apart, learning from experience as they became increasingly more pleased with the result of their work each time.

“It’s one of those things that you can progress over time,” Woertink said. “You can definitely see the shift [in style].”

Typically, Woertink takes about an hour to dress up and do their makeup each time they cosplay. They repeat the process with different characters around eight times a month. Woertink

Despite always finding pleasure in their hobby, the financial spect is challenging for Woertink at times. The pieces and clothing items needed to complete a cosplay becomes an issue in terms of cost. They try to thrift their outfits or buy them on Amazon, using their delivery feature for convenience. Luckily, they receive lots of support from their family both financially and verbally. Woertink is grateful for the approval they receive from their family and friends, but they understand that not everyone experiences the same admiration that they do.

“As long as you’re doing [cosplay] the way you want to and you feel great, what anybody else says doesn’t really matter,” Woertink said.

For anyone that wants to try cosplay, Woertink thinks it is an easy hobby to try because any item in the closet could be used for cosplay.

“It’s not one of those things where it has to be perfect,” Woertink said. “Since it’s an art form, it never has to be perfect. There’s not one way to do it. As long as you’re happy with the way it looks, then you’re do ing it just fine.”

Fencing is another sport to add to the list of extracurriculars at UPA.

Eighth grader

Lehtinen actively fences weekly.

The main objective of fencing is to jab at an opponent with a long, thin sword, receiving one point each time the fencer touches the opponent. After each touch, the players pause and reset at their en garde lines, where they stood at the beginning of the round. The winner of the bout, or round, is the first person to score five or fifteen points, with a five point round lasting three minutes, and a fifteen point round lasting nine.

Lehtinen describes fencing as an intellectual match, rather than strength-based, which is an aspect of the hobby that he feels makes it well-suited for him. It is not about who is faster or stronger since dexterity and coordination are needed when fencing. It is also important to be able to understand your opponent to be able to react to their actions.

“You really have to relate to [your opponent] a lot,” Lehtinen said. “So, it’s a conversation when you’re fencing with a different person.”

Lehtinen first began fencing at 10 years old because his mother, who did fencing herself, encouraged him to sign up. He practices for about one to two hours a week for three days. However, the recommended time for committed fencers is 10 hours per week. While Lehtinen considers fencing as one of his main hobbies, he does not fully commit himself the way that someone trying to fence in college or the Olympics might.

Although levels of commitment and competitiveness vary, finances are included in the spectrum of factors to consider. Lehtinen uses a variety of equipment including, but not limited to: electrical protective gear for his torso and face and multiple blades for his weapon and shoes. If someone is very committed to fencing, they can buy their own equip- ment, but Lehtinen pointed out that clubs will often offer free equipment for those who do not desire to compete because personal equipment is needed for a tournament.

When Lehtinen competes, he sometimes finds difficulty navigating where and when he needs to be positioned. Sometimes competitions are chaotic with the amount of people and coaches yelling at competitors. He thinks that some fencing clubs are too competitive, and treat their students too harshly as they are learning. He described six-yearolds being yelled at by their coaches during competitions. Despite the overwhelming aspects of fencing, he enjoys developing his technique.

“If you take a step back from [the stress] and just look at what you’re doing, and the practice and everything, that’s a lot of fun because it’s like a skill you get better at,” Lehtinen said.