Lena Khan, a first-year political science and history student,
concentrated intensely as Jordan Fassler, a third-year math
student, practiced juggling and passing knives with her.
Both students, members of the campus juggling club, were warming
up for the Friday afternoon juggling show held at Bruin Plaza.
Members juggled tennis balls, donated by Westwood Sporting Goods
Company, and clubs ““ as well as performing other tricks.
A primary goal of the event was to raise money for UniCamp, the
UCLA charity that sponsors camp sessions and mentorships for
underprivileged children.
“It will help because I think everyone likes watching
jugglers and that will help raise money for children,” said
David Riley, a first-year undeclared student.
Cathy Ton, third-year psychobiology student and founder of the
juggling club, was pleased with results.
“It was good. We had fun ““ that’s all that
really matters. We had fun for a good cause. If we have fun then
the audience has fun watching us,” she said.
Ton, also a Unicamp counselor, plans to incorporate her juggling
skills with her work this summer.
“These kids who have all of these troubles at home and
family problems, this one week they go up to camp “¦ and get
away from city life. It’s just amazing. “¦ This summer I
want to teach my kids how to juggle,” she said.
The juggling club, which meets Tuesdays, Wednesdays and
Thursdays to juggle in front of Kerckhoff Hall, also teaches
interested students the tricks of their trade.
“It’s just really casual. You get together and
juggle and people teach other people,” said Jesse Lu, a
first-year electrical engineering student and club member.
Feng Rong, a third-year math graduate student, is among the
students who learn from the advanced members of the club. He joined
the club with no juggling background.
“It needs time because it is a tough thing to learn.
I’m still trying to learn some new stuff,” he said.
“Juggling is a mental thing. You can actually see how the
ball is going up and down and you need some coordination of your
mind and your body,” Rong said.
Rong, however, felt that the primary goal of juggling was
appreciating the process of learning.
“That’s the whole idea. It doesn’t matter if
you can do fancy stuff or not,” Rong added.
Audience members at the Friday event were impressed with the
performance of the juggling club.
“I liked the juggling. I have always liked juggling. The
different tricks that these people are performing are really
interesting, really cool,” said Ebrain Mirambeau, a
third-year mathematics student.