College is a lot to juggle

Linus Bendel-Stenzel discusses his juggling talent and plans to create a club at Hamline.

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Sophie Skilbred

First-year Linus Bendel-Stenzel demonstrates his juggling abilities.

Sophie Skilbred, Reporter

When first-year Linus Bendel-Stenzel juggles, people take notice. It is not only because he can juggle four balls, or even the fact that he can easily articulate a sentence while doing so. Bendel-Stenzel can do all this without looking at or dropping a single ball.

Bendel-Stenzel started learning how to juggle when he was 10 years old. He began by joining a club in Edina, Minn. called “Jugheads”. He said the club consists of roughly 100 people aging anywhere from three to 12 years old.

Bendel-Stenzel is considered a graduate of Jugheads. While he was a student there, he was on a team that competed against other jugglers. He spoke highly of the learning environment, saying that Jugheads are relaxed and interactive.

Bendel-Stenzel said that when he starts his own club – an ambition he holds for his time at Hamline – he wants it to be relaxed. “It’s really hard to learn alone,” he said. For him, the goal is to teach people who are interested in juggling. He wants the club “to be chill”, he said. He wants people to come “hang out” and practice juggling without the stress of committing to a club.

He plans for the club to meet roughly once a week in one of two possible locations. One of the options is the gym in Walker Fieldhouse, the other Manor Main. The reason for these two locations is the height of the ceilings.

“Most college students can learn in a week,” he said.

In addition to the soothing element of juggling, Bendel-Stenzel enjoys specializing in tricks. “I like to create my own tricks,” he said, creating a criss-crossed pattern with three balls and grabbing each ball with the backs of his hands facing him. He dubbed this trick “the claw”.

Linus also demonstrated the “crane”, which involved him keeping a circular pattern of movement, but instead of tossing all of the balls, he held onto one ball and dropped it into his other hand. This trick also used three balls.

To learn juggling, he recommends that a person “start with one.” He said that it is easier to learn than you might think, “with the proper form,” he adds, “which I can teach you.”