We all know that one person with a super cool hobby that makes us all jealous.
Well, Westmoore Senior Parker Story is that person, and she says we can all do anything we want to do, with practice, practice and more practice. Parker is a yo-yo performer. We sat down and had a chat with Parker about her various challenges and victories that come from being a yo-yo performer. We found that she is quite talented—with and without the yo-yo.
Linked: So how did you get started with the yo-yo?
Parker: My dad yo-yo’d when I was a kid, then I got a really cheap yo-yo from an arcade and used it until it broke. My dad taught me a little and then I started using online tutorials to teach myself tricks.
Linked: What have you got going on now as far as yo-yos go?
Parker: So I got that first yo-yo in the 6th grade, but didn’t start seriously yo-yo-ing until freshman year in high school. Now, a national yo-yo company called Yoyo Workshops sponsors me; two men in the military established the company in 2014. There are three people on my team right now, and we try out higher-end yo-yos, get to go to competitions and give feedback to the yo-yo manufacturers.
Linked: So you’ve actually only been seriously yo-yo-ing for three years—that’s amazing.Where all have you gotten to perform and compete?
Parker: I go to meets every few months or so and I’ve been to Kansas to their state contest twice. In a few weeks, I’m going to the World Yo-yo Contest in Cleveland, Ohio! People come from all over the world to compete. I’m not competing in my actual division, since it was a last-minute decision to go, but I will be competing in the women’s division; I’ll perform a routine with music and will get scored off of that. I’m hoping to be able to place!
Linked: What a great opportunity! So, what’s your favorite place you’ve ever performed?
Parker: I perform at a lot of community events here in OKC for friends, family and schools, and those are always fun. This summer, I actually got to go to a three-week visual arts camp in Missouri, and performed one night. It was so nice to be in the company of other visual artists, and their reactions and feedback were so encouraging. It felt really good to have my art form accepted, even though it is a more rare art form.
Linked: Yo-yo-ing is a really rare art form. What does yo-yo-ing mean to you? What do you love about it?
Parker: It helps me de-stress: I’m in a lot of honors classes in school and do a lot of different extra-curricular activities. It also helps me build upon my other art forms—I’m an artist and like to draw, and doing yo-yo routines is like doing a real-time 3D art piece.
Even though there’s not a lot of people in Oklahoma who yoyo, I have been able to make a lot of friends in the yoyo community across the nation; I’ve gained a lot of friends and met a lot of really cool people both online and in person. Everyone’s style is different, so we often video our tricks to show others how we do it. It’s really neat to be able to share this art.
Linked: So like you said, not many people in Oklahoma can say their hobby is yo-yo-ing. What has been one of your biggest struggles?
Parker: My location is definitely one of my biggest struggles—OKC doesn’t have a huge yo-yo scene. For instance, on the coasts and in bigger cities, there are a lot of yo-yo clubs and toy stores with yo-yo demos are all over the place. I tried to start a club at my school, but nobody wanted to join because everyone thinks they can’t do it. It’s kind of a lonely art form.
Linked: What is your advice to those who want to start hobbies that might be “rare” or seem hard to do?
Parker: I love all kinds of hobbies. I start a lot and I fail a lot, too. I’d say try not to overload yourself at the start and then lose hope that you’ll be able to do it. When I first started with the yo-yo, I was so excited when I could just walk the dog or rock the baby, which are some of the most basic tricks. I managed to keep myself happy with what I could do rather than be sad about what I couldn’t do at the moment. Then I just worked up to where I am now.
I also followed a lot of videos that inspired me to keep going. Seeing the professionals do cool tricks made me want to do more tricks.
Linked: What is your favorite trick you do?
Parker: My favorite trick is the “neck wrap trap.” It’s where I would throw the yo-yo in a wide circle and let it wrap around my neck. Then, I would move my neck to keep it going and eventually it ends up going through my legs. It looks like I’m going to hit myself and so the audience gets nervous, but when I pull it off, it’s like a magic trick and everybody loves it.
Linked: Is there anything last advice or anything you would like to say?
Parker: Yes—a lot of times when people see me perform, they get overwhelmed because it’s different than what you think and it looks really hard. But really, anyone can do it, just with practice. I’m actually a really clumsy person, but with the yo-yo, I’ve practiced enough to be good. Just don’t let yourself think that you can’t do anything you put your mind to.