Ropes in The Closet

Written by Ala mohamed
Pictures by Leena Taha
Design by Yarelle Jaimes

On the third floor of West High School, stands an AP Physiology classroom. However, every Monday after school the class takes an unexpected turn. As I infringed upon room 239, I was met with laughter and a box of donuts. A group of upperclassmen girls stood idly, as they each held a yummy donut varying in color and toppings, and I had the opportunity to enjoy one. I wondered if this was the wrong class, but in a blue and white striped box sitting peacefully on a student desk was a variety of jump ropes and not too far off, were some hula hoops hanging at the side. I was then sure this was the place.
As everyone greeted me warmly, more members came in, and joined the chat. As the meeting began, the jump ropes and hula hoops made their way into their owners’ hands, and the real fun began. The style of jumping I observed was, one person holding the rope on each end and people jumping in as the jump rope was being turned. I attached a Go-pro to Autumn Svoboda’s ’16 head and I had her jumping and twirling on the jump rope. I attached the GoPro to my own head and laid on the floor as another member started to hula hope.

As busy students, one needs to sit in smell the roses. As I overheard SAT talks and test preparations, knowing members took time off to have fun, shows what matters the most. Svoboda’s one of the founders of Jump Rope club, said,” This club was created for fun, you do not need to be an expert to jump rope.” Svoboda’s also says,” I thought they were joking about the whole thing, I never took it seriously”. As she tells me this Anna Turquest ‘16 says how they came up with it,”We were talking about Jump In, the Disney Channel movie and about how much we enjoyed it”.
Nowadays as teenagers we only jump rope during training or when exercising. The same joy we felt as children when spotting a jump rope in the playground is gone. Svoboda mentioned that, “The reason why many of us don’t jump rope now, is because it is kind of old, and we enjoyed it more as children.” This might be true to some, but who said we cannot bring jump rope back? As as the meeting came to an end,donuts were given up, and the jump ropes and hula hoops were tucked away again, into a dark closet in room 239. Yet not to worry, because next Monday after school they will make their next appearance.