How To Hobbies

An assortment of hobby related items (Liam Winkelman/The Puma Prensa)

Written By: Liam Winkelman, Website Editor

In the past, people have said that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. While that may seem daunting, it's often a much easier task with the right advice. 

In today's world of college acceptances, you can not just rely on your own academic achievements to get into college; you will also need to find some key hobbies to adopt. Other than college applications people also tend to waste time (I'm guilty of this too) spending hours on social media wasting the day away. The issue is: most people don't know where to start. Here are some hobby ideas that you can look into today to help get you started. 

Visual Art:

Learning how to properly get into art feels like a big pressure, as most people already know mountains of information, and it feels like you should too. In reality, as long as you channel your inspiration and work on what you aren't good at yet, you will learn. Another piece of advice is to “never work with blank paper and think you need a perfect drawing,” says Thomas Laughlin, our art teacher here at Carillo. While it may feel like a big difficulty to keep consistent, as long as you try when you can and treat it all like a work in progress, then eventually you will master it.  If you need more help go to J1 on Tuesdays at lunch for art club.

Instrument:

Learning how to play an instrument is very similar to learning an art, except it's a much more direct path to follow. Firstly, go youtube or in person to find an instrument that you think is interesting or cool to play, for in person you could go to our schools concerts or any other performance/practice. Then go to Stanroy’s/any local instrument store and rent an instrument, go on Facebook Marketplace and find someone selling one, or even join the band program at our school to have an even easier path. From there, there are plenty of different methods to learning, it just depends on what's best for you, no matter if it's from a book, in person, or videos online. The most important thing is consistency, “don't let yourself get rusty, practice” Ben Kane, a sophomore here at Carillo claims.

Hiking/Walking:

For people wanting to find a more active hobby or who want to connect with nature better, there are many amazing hiking opportunities in our area. Just a quick drive from the school is Spring Lake and Taylor Mountain which are two scenic and dog-friendly hiking spots. These two locations are extremely close to where we live, and on top of that hiking is free to get into. This creates free and nature filled fun that you can fill your weekends with! All you would need to do is have google maps, which you could find on your phone or chromebook, find a spot that's marked for hiking, and go for it.

Cooking:

Coming from someone who enjoys cooking, it is often a daunting hobby to get into. There are ingredients that are expensive and hard to find, recipes that are hard to understand, and difficult techniques. My advice would be to start from the basics, whether that's a grilled cheese sandwich, “Top Ramen,” or whatever you're comfortable with. Then once you have that down, use that newfound information to get creative. You can try modifying these simple dishes, and although it may turn out to be bad, you will still learn. Just like learning a new language or school subject, cooking is all based on rules and order of operations.

Photography:

Like many hobbies, photography is definitely something that seems a lot more difficult to get into than it actually is. Although it sounds too simple, the best method of learning photography is just to start taking photos. If you see something cool, see something inspiring, simply take a photo of it. Over time, you will learn how to take better pictures through your own selection of how you like them, this will also allow you to develop your own photographic style. You can also use the editing features built into your phone to help enhance the captures. Although, try not to edit too much when you’re just beginning, as it can take away from the photo when you are not sure what you are doing. This will force you to take better photos and overall get more skill into the subject. If not knowing how isn't good enough there are plenty of photos and tutorials online to take inspiration from, and to learn on how to develop your craft.

Reading and writing: 

If you're trying to take up reading or writing as a hobby, then you may have just tried to read a whole book in one sitting, or tried rushing to catch up with those already into the hobby, just like me. Instead, try “reading multiple times throughout the day, even if only a few pages” says Madelyn Doyle, an Honors Ethnic Studies teacher at Maria Carrillo. Putting in the time to get in a small bit of reading or writing doesn't seem as hard, and so if you're just reading 10 minutes at a time throughout the day, eventually you will find a groove to keep reading. Similar to reading, with writing just try to get a few things down every day, maybe take a journal or another form of tracking your actions. Eventually this method of recording your own thoughts will evolve into writing down stories or other mediums of writing.

Gaming:

In today's world, more and more people are turning into gamers; they are often playing between classes, after them, and before them. The biggest issue with this is finding a spark to be able to game often enough to make a hobby out of it. The biggest advice is to find free games and try them out, eventually one of them will stick with you. From there you can locate other games from the same genre and see if they stick too. If they do, you can find friends that also play them, these friends don't need to be in person. As for me, my best friend and I don't meet often in person; yet, we have the same game interests so we play together online. Remember, “be casual with it, you don’t need to be competitive, it’s a hobby,” says Aiden Damasco, a sophomore here at Carrillo.

Sports:

Maria Carrillo has some amazing sports teams. Most people don’t realize that joining these programs is only a few clicks, or a short walk from their counselors office away.My advice would be to go online and find videos of people playing a sport that seems interesting in order to find out information about it. Once you know the basics, try out for the school's team, or find a group of friends that could try it with you if it's not here at the school. If it doesn't stick, you don't keep with it; however, if it does then it can be a great new hobby.

Overall, there are lots of hobbies to try out before you graduate, and there truly is no time like the present to start and give one a try. The benefits of having a hobby are so crucial to your future as colleges rely more on who you are as well as your academic achievements, having this hobby shows commitment. You also get something productive to do when you have free time, rather than just aimlessly scrolling your for you page or sitting around.