Hands

Matthew Rosa, 11

I started working on cars two years ago and I just kept up with it. I want to be a mechanic or mechanical engineer when I grow up, so it’s super useful for me to know the hands-on stuff. I work on cars with my dad and he really taught me a lot. I really like the experience of working with cars. All of the skills you learn are really useful, especially welding and cutting metal. I bought my car, and then my dad and I completely took it apart and rebuilt it. It took almost a year and a half to fully rebuild it. The body and paint are the same, but the engine is completely different. I bought it for $3,000 and now it’s probably worth around $10,000. It was hard work, especially at first, but I’m super happy with the car we built.

Shannon Gallup, 11

My hands get pretty beat up from rowing; we don’t typically wear gloves, and we’re pushing and pulling ten-foot oars through the water, so our hands get blisters and calluses. I’ve had them so bad that they bleed. I started rowing freshman year, after I got an injury from swimming. I tore my rotator cuff, so swimming was out the question for me. It really messed me up, not having a sport for awhile, because I didn’t have a set schedule or a release for my energy. Since rowing is a year-long sport, I have time limits on everything I do, everyday. I keep a food log and have to organize my day around my rowing practices. I think about getting enough sleep to not pass out during practice, eating enough to stay strong during practice, and finishing my homework in time for practice.

Molly Zhou, 9

I started art lessons when I was six. Lessons are an hour and a half. My favorite mediums are ink drawing and oil painting. The only downside with oil is that it takes really long to do, and then to dry. Being artistic is definitely good for school projects and it helps impress teachers. I like to draw and paint because it relaxes me. Sketching is really therapeutic. It’s best to draw when you’re distracted, like when you’re listening to music. Because your mind is focused on something else, you’re painting instinctively instead of trying to draw from memory or your perception of what it’s supposed to look like. My favorite style is surrealism, because it’s the best for pure creativity.

Grace Petraglia, 10

I have been riding horses for about three years now; I ride on the weekends. People don’t really think horseback riding is a team sport, but it is, between you and your horse. The bond with your horse is impossible to put into words; it’s just so special. Every horseback rider puts a lot of effort into understanding and working with their horse. I guide my horse with my legs, squeezing them to go forward or to lighten up a bit. When I ride, I get to experience the horse’s strength and power through my hands, because I hold onto the reins with them. My hands usually rest at the base of their neck and they have to be symmetrical. The most important thing to do with your hands is to remember to guide them, not pull them in a certain direction. My hands, literally, tie me to my horse.

Cody Stevens-Manion, 12

Before I was born, I stuck my hand in the amniotic sac [the pouch that holds unborn babies in mother’s stomachs]. The membrane got wrapped around my hand and it wouldn’t come unstuck. So when I was born, the doctors had to surgically separate my fingers and reform them. The fingers on my left hand are a little bit shorter, and my thumb doesn’t have a nail. My middle finger doesn’t have a joint at all, so it can’t bend. I can grab stuff, but it has stopped me from doing certain things. I tried to play the clarinet when I was younger, in elementary school, but I couldn’t because my hand couldn’t reach some of the keys. The full range of motion just wasn’t there. Also, I have to play the guitar left-handed, even though I’m right handed. I use my right hand to play the chords and my left hand to strum. When I was little, kids used to ask me stuff like “Does it hurt?” and questions like that. Some kids used to get scared of my hand, but now, my friends just think it’s really cool or never even notice it.

Erik  Frisch, 12

I first started to play when my uncle, who listened to lots of classic rock and had a lot of cool vinyls and guitars, moved near us and he got me listening to old records. He bought me this really, really bad guitar. That was in 2012, so I was about 14 when I started to play. I’ve been playing for four years now, and I’ve played everyday for at least two years –– usually classic rock. I play so much I no longer have fingerprints on my left hand at all. I also have a ton of calluses from playing. My family is pretty musical as well, so that’s also how I got so interested in music.