Far from staple singers, students practice original and exotic talents

Justin Kirkham, Associate Editor
January 31, 2012
Filed under Featured

When it comes to talent, Borah is home to multiple original or even exotic individuals.  Between sliding colored cubes into place in record time and an emotional sway to Shakira’s latest single, the interests and hobbies of the students span a wide spectrum.

Whether he is sitting in pews at church or pacing through the halls of school, junior Braden Rice has his Rubik’s cube by his side at all times.  “I used to bring it with me everywhere,” explained Rice, shaking his head.  Eventually, his devotion to the Rubik’s Cube was discouraged.  “I took it out so much that my JROTC instructor made me do 20 push-ups every time he saw it.”

Rice got interested in Rubix Cubes after being introduced by a friend.  “He brought a Rubix Cube and a set of instructions and we started memorizing it together.”

Most of the time, Rice is applauded for his Rubik’s Cube solving.  “People usually just say, ‘Whoa, how did you do that,’ or, ‘Can I mess it up?’”  Rice’s record is solving a cube under 45 seconds.

Junior Chad Withers has a more uncommon knack.  When he hears a phrase or sentence, Withers can quickly assess how many letters were used.

At first, he used it to help with spelling words.  “I could associate the amount of letters in a word with its spelling,” Withers explained.  “It eventually became a habit.”

This junior particularly enjoys the counting and mental-math aspects of his talent.  “I counted a lot as a kid.  I was heard counting in my sleep,” he laughed.  Withers continued, “I just like to think things out.”

Withers’ ability stems from his great-grandfather’s own form of mental math.  “He would make a long list of numbers and slide his pencil down them and immediately get the sum.  It might be genetic,” he shrugged.

Junior Marisa Bishop belly dances.  For the past couple of years, she has attended practice sessions two to three times a week.  Each session entails one or two hours of in-depth dance training.

“My mom was a belly dancer in high school,” Bishop explained.  “I saw some Shakira videos and I just wanted to do it,” she laughed.

“It’s a really emotional dance,” she continued.  “Each move represents an emotion.”

Bishop has performed only a few times and now refrains from doing so.  “My dad didn’t want me to perform because it’s kind of against our religion,” she said, referring to her faith’s standards of modesty.

Of the surprised and mixed responses she has gotten for her talent, Bishop explained that being “asked if I was an Indian prostitute” led to one of her more interesting conversations.

Compared to the general talents in a high school environment, both Rice and Bishop are proud to be out of the ordinary.  “I’m just glad that I can do something that not many people can do,” Rice nodded.

“It’s a good thing not everyone’s a singer,” Bishop teased.