Meet GU Juggling Club, the Monday night chill out you need

You can’t even juggle school and life

Some of Georgetown’s clubs are well known around campus, but others, like the Georgetown University Juggling Club don’t have the notoriety they deserve.

We interviewed Emma, a member of the Georgetown University Juggling Club, to get some insight on one of the university’s more obscure clubs.

How did you hear about the club?

I was at the CAB fair this year walking around with my friend. I was just glancing around and saw a unicycle and three juggling balls. I decided to stop and go over to the table there because people looked very friendly, someone was already juggling the bowling pins you see at shows. I just put my name down on the list. What caught my attention was that they were immediately friendly and engaging.

Why did you end up joining it?

Do you want to know the real answer? My friend told me that we should be an acting duo: she would be on the unicycle, and I would juggle beside her. We both had zero past experience, so we wanted to have a challenge to work towards. So, for one hour every Monday, we decided to meet up and enjoy a good break.

What are your meetings like?

Every Monday night, usually seven to ten people in come to practice. It is very informal. Everyone just grabs whatever objects they want to juggle or train with.  For example, we have a training unicycle and real one; you just find your corner and go. Everyone helps each other think of different techniques, too. My personal goal is to juggle for forty-five seconds because to really perform, you have to be able to juggle for forty-five seconds. Also, it’s easy to juggle and have conversation, so you get to know people pretty well.”

What are the people like in the group?

All different types of peoples of all different levels of skills and all different years with different goals. One guy wants to run a marathon while juggling. Our leader of the group, Grayson Bishop, actually ran a marathon while juggling, which is insane. He is the founder of the club. Others like me are just trying to make it for forty-five seconds. Our pitch for the club is: come take an hour out of your Monday night to just relax and juggle. It’s a great way to unwind and make friends.

Are there any competitions?

No formal competitions, no. We reach out to other groups that perform on stages to try to perform during intermissions. Other times we reach out to groups that would be great to partner with like Best Buddies. We have taught the Buddies how to juggle before. Even though it is very informal, we try to work with other Georgetown groups to expand our group. We do not have any competitions against other universities though. Our club is only three years old, so it has time to grow.

What do you see the future of the juggling club to be?

Hopefully, we can spread the word so that it can get bigger. Also, I hope it survives after Grayson is gone. I really want more people to see it as I do – a welcoming environment to relieve stress and learn a cool skill.

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