The Student News Site of Westborough High School

The Lobby Observer

The Student News Site of Westborough High School

The Lobby Observer

The Student News Site of Westborough High School

The Lobby Observer

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The Karate Kid: Skyler Considine

By: Kate Katz

WHS freshman, Skyler Considine started karate back in November of 2009, about five years ago. As of now she is a second degree brown belt, at her second dojo, Valaries, in Westborough.

The dojo teaches Shaolin, Kempo, Tai-Chi and Jui Jitsu to students. These forms of martial arts include grappling, punching, and kicking. Master Sarah is the owner, who is also a fifth degree black belt, along with other teachers who help out. A basic class starts with a bow and exercises. Next they will spar, grapple, and end with a bow. Considine practices karate from four to seven hours a week, and teaches grappling classes for seven to thirteen year olds. Regular classes she teaches for four to six year olds. This earns her a lot of community service hours and she sometimes gets paid for teaching. For example, she will get paid for running birthday parties.

She has also been welcomed into S.T.O.R.M. (Specialized Team of Role Models) by Master Sarah for her leadership skills. This is a program for kids that are more serious about karate and act as mentors for younger students to look up to. “I didn’t want to do it at first”, she comments. Now that Considine has studied this sport for quite some time, she has decided to pursue karate “into college definitely and teach classes over the summer,” she explains.  As an adult Considine wants to be associated with it somehow, taking adult classes or teaching them herself.

Considine started this sport for self-defense purposes. At the time she was going into fifth grade, and as a ten year old, “The gees were cool”. Behind that small explanation she wanted an after school activity and wanted to learn self-defense. In addition, her mother wanted her to have a background of karate for the future. It would always be good to remember in case of an issue where it would be needed to be used. Considine states,“My maturity level has definitely gone up, and I learned a lot more respect, self-discipline and self-control after starting karate.”

Considine has encountered several challenges over the years of doing karate. She has a genetic knee issue, Patcllafemoral Syndrome, in which her knees aren’t attached to her kneecaps, causing difficulty for her to cope with in class. At points where it is extremely bad, she will sit out of activities so she can stretch out her knees. Stretches don’t help immediately, but in the long run they make a difference.

Somehow, lots of Considine’s closest friends came from or are in some way associated with karate. They make the overall experience of karate more entertaining. Besides the classes, a lot do them do things totally unrelated to karate. For example, they are planning a talent show with all the kids, and Sensei’s, just for fun. Although karate is a lot about self-defense, a lot of it is also having fun as a group.

Besides karate, Considine is built up a large schedule with babysitting half the week and school. When she is stressed she can go to karate in which she mediates and lets out stress and anxiety.

Considine wishes to continue this activity while it lasts. She states, “I want to pursue this as long as possible.” Skyler Considine’s life has changed positivily because of karate and will continue to as she continues the sport.

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  • K

    kimberli considineMar 10, 2019 at 8:49 am

    Skyler is my daughter:-) . She turned 19 yesterday! Karate continues to be very important to her and she trains and teaches when she is home from college. I am so proud of her accomplishments ( 2nd degree black belt) as well as who she is as a person/ character. Happy Birthday Skyler!! I love you!!

    Reply
  • G

    GraceSep 29, 2015 at 4:41 pm

    This article is informative and interesting, effectively teaching the reader about both Skylar and karate. I thought it was cool that karate isn’t just a sport for Skylar, but actually an important part of her day for relieving her stress and heightening her overall abilities.

    Reply
  • L

    Lauren CarloSep 29, 2015 at 3:59 pm

    This article about Considine was well written. It’s very cool to learn about karate because I didn’t know really anything until after reading this. I also enjoyed that it mentioned how Considine has set backs, such as her knees, but still pushes through.

    Reply
  • E

    Erin CottonJan 22, 2015 at 12:57 pm

    This article was really interesting to learn more about a sport that I didn’t know much about. Its really impressive that after five years, Considine has accomplished so much and is now teaching others kids. It is also really cool that she is apart of this special leadership program. This article is really well written.

    Reply