s I step through the revolving door into the usually drab Science Center Arcade, I hear the laughter of students up ahead, trying and failing and then trying once more to keep their projectiles aloft. Their stitched leather juggling balls catch the eyes of passersby with flashes of neon orange and forest green.

I had woken up bright and early on Saturday morning with the sole purpose of attending the Harvard Undergraduate Juggler’s first pop-up juggling workshop.

Many of these students gathered in the arcade hadn’t planned to spend their morning tossing balls across the hallway. But Eric Tong ’28 — longtime juggler and first-time founder of the Harvard Undergraduate Jugglers — managed to lure them away from problem sets and practice rooms.

“I came to Harvard, and one of the things I felt was a lot of the clubs here are very pre-professional or academic, and they’re all trying to get you to the next step in life,” Tong says. “And I just wanted to have a club that was there to meet new people and enjoy a pretty low stakes activity and have a good time.”

Scott C. Yamaoka ’29 was one of the students Tong pulled away from work.

“I was going to lock in on my CS assignment, but this looked like a lot of fun, and I’m so here for the spontaneity of juggling,” Yamaoka says. “And it’s a Saturday — why not have a little fun?”

Tong begins the workshop by demonstrating the two ball cascade. With both arms extended, he tosses a ball across his body to his opposite hand, then sends the second ball after it only a moment after. He explains how this ensures both balls land in the opposite hand at around the same time.

Tong makes it look easy.

The trick, it turns out, depends on steady hands and consistent throws. Within minutes, I discover I have neither.

Thankfully, there is plenty of time to practice, and a relaxed atmosphere — one where improvement is possible, but not demanded.

For Tong, that easygoing environment is central to the club’s mission.

“Of course, learning how to juggle, but also just meeting new people and taking a break from the stress and the busyness of Harvard,” he says.

Blake R. Hullinger ‘29 takes time away from music rehearsals to revive a skill he hadn’t practiced in years.

“I used to juggle in middle school, and so I was like, ‘I would love to just stop by and do this for a second,’” Hullinger says. “And now I’ve been here for forty-five minutes just nerding out about juggling.”

At the front of the makeshift workshop sits a fold-out table with a handmade sign reading “Harvard Jugglers.” Two stick figures toss QR codes into the air, advertising the club’s mailing list.

The table is covered with professional juggling balls: some professionally made in solid colors, others homemade from rice and balloons.

Tong applied to start the club last semester and received funding from the Harvard Undergraduate Association for its first set of equipment.

Students spread out across the Science Center hallway to practice. The more talented jugglers try difficult tricks. At one point, a trio attempts to juggle six balls between them — needless to say, I am not yet talented enough to join.

The especially dedicated are encouraged to take hand-made juggling balls to practice with at home.

“The goal is, assuming you want to learn how to juggle on your own time, we can just give you a set of balls, and then you can sort of just practice, and then whenever you're ready, come back,” Tong says.

For many attendees, the workshop offers a chance to take a break and learn something new.

“I decided to spend my Saturday morning this way because I just want to learn something new that’s really, really cool,” says Miguel A. Dangond ’29, who first heard about the Harvard Undergraduate Jugglers at the activities fair last fall.

As I struggle to keep my newly made juggling balls aloft, students sign up for the email list. Some juggling converts leave with sets of rice-filled balloons to practice with at home — just as Tong had hoped.

While Tong founded the Harvard Undergraduate Jugglers as a reprieve from Harvard’s pre-professional intensity, Hullinger jokingly contemplates his budding abilities.

“I just hope to keep coming back,” Hullinger says. “Maybe that’ll be my career destiny, actually: graduate from Harvard, become a clown.”

—Magazine writer Micaela S. Arenas can be reached at [email protected].