by Anna Shinn, staff writer
How many 17 year olds can say that they were on national television, traveled all around the world to compete, and ranked nationally in a sport? Not many, but River Hill senior, Hannah Silverman can.
Acrobatics may not be as popular as soccer or football, but it is respected just as much if not more. It is a sport where there are elements such as tumbling, balancing, and dance all combined into one routine. One feature that acro is known for is the unimaginable poses acrobats achieve while balancing as many as six people on top of each other. This skill takes incredible strength, flexibility, and dedication to be successful in.
While in high school, some major accomplishments Hannah achieved are reaching the finale of America’s Got Talent with an acrobatics group called Acro Army, competing globally with acrobats around the world, and being ranked nationally and globally for the past six years.
Although Hannah has accomplished a lot as a teenager, it came with many sacrifices. Including spending time with her friends, eating certain foods, and being a “normal” high school student.
One big sacrifice Hannah had to make was her social life. Hannah says, “I was never really able to hang out with my friends outside of school because I had practice every day.” Hanging out and talking to her friends are all really important to her as she is a very social person.
For most of us, eating can be enjoyed and we don’t have to worry too much about it, but that is a different story for Hannah. She explains, “I had to watch what I was eating and I had a hard time with that when I went out with friends so I had to just say I couldn’t hang out just in the fact that I wasn’t allowed to eat the foods that they were allowed to eat.”
Restricting what she ate and how much she ate was difficult for her also because she is a small person to begin with. Her diet mainly consisted of chicken, eggs, vegetables, and sometimes fruit but not much of anything else. There were never many cheat days because her coaches needed her to stay small. It was important for her to stay light because she is the one who is being lifted and thrown in routines.
Playing a sport during high school is already a demanding task, but having practice everyday year round along with the demands of high school classes can take a tremendous toll mentally and physically. Because Hannah’s schedule for acro and school never matched up, she decided to switch to homeschool for junior year.
However, homeschooling was not the best for her either. Hannah reveals, “It was definitely a hard transition going from public school to homeschooling Just in the fact that they are two very different ways of learning. I am more of a hands on learner so it was hard having to do everything on the computer.”
When Hannah stopped acro and decided to come back to public school for senior year, there were just as many cons as there were pros. She enjoyed coming back to see her friends and to spend time with them before they leave for college, but she also didn’t miss the long classes. It was a challenge for Hannah to sit still for long periods of time because she gets antsy and jittery. She would have to be constantly moving her leg or hand.
Apart from acro, Hannah’s personality has truly been the reason why she showed so much promise. Her high school dance teacher, Ms. Hennessy claims the reason for Hannah’s success is, “Her dedication, and sense of humor. Hannah has never taken herself too seriously and always gets back up on her feet if she falls down.” This perseverance is necessary in a sport like acro.
Similarly, her close friend, Erin Swecker, answered, “Her best qualities are definitely her hardworking attitude and determination, if you give Hannah something to do you can count on her to get it done.”
All in all, Hannah doesn’t regret experiencing everything acro has provided for her. “ It taught me a lot of life lessons that’s for sure. And having been around such great people like my coaches and my partners and all my teammates. Acro gave me a lot of opportunities that most kids can’t say they have done.” Some sacrifices are worth making.