Surfing, painting, creating; whatever it may be, junior Maria Flor Bordinhon has “been there, done that”. Spending most of her free time exploring new activities and expanding her skill set, she has a plethora of activities to enjoy and turn to in a fit of boredom.

“Throughout my life, I’ve done quite a few hobbies,” Bordinhon said. “Most of them I still continue to do to this day, like surfing and cooking, but others I’ve left behind simply because they became somewhat boring to me.”

Having tried out many hobbies for herself, there are only a couple of pastimes that earn the place of being Bordinhon’s favorite.

“Out of all the hobbies I’ve gotten into, surfing and cooking are my favorite ones,” Bordinhon said. “Cooking is a given since it’s my program area and surfing is just fun for me since I love going to the beach and spending time in the sun.”

In addition to the many sports and art activities that Bordinhon has participated in, she has put effort into learning languages as well.

“I’m fluent in Portuguese as it’s my first language and English of course,” Bordinhon said. ”At the moment, I’m learning Italian and Spanish and I want to learn French, but I want to fully finish the other languages first.” 

Taking inspiration from others, she continues to expand her array of hobbies. 

“I truly just like trying hobbies,” Bordinhon said. “I get interested in what I see people doing whether it be online or in-person in my daily life. If it seems intriguing to me, I’ll be open to trying it out.”

The newest addition to her collection of hobbies expands her extensive list of sports. 

“I wanted to start doing tennis,” Bordinhon said. “It’s an expensive sport because of the rackets and classes I’ll have to take, so I’ll have to truly commit to this so that the money that my mom is spending on it won’t go to waste. I can’t just drop it after a month like how I did with other hobbies; I really hope that I’ll enjoy it.”

Gallery • 4 Photos

Pork sirloin with goat butter and onion

Her effort and dedication to her hobbies are clear to her friends and those around her.

“I love watching Flor find different hobbies to get invested in,” junior Jamie Chu said. “She’s always finding random things to do and keeping herself busy. Now, I think she’s planning on taking tennis lessons and it’s so cool to see all the different things she’s able to do.”

Chu shares her thoughts on how these hobbies may affect Bordinhon as time goes on.

“She’s very dedicated to all of her hobbies and I know she’s going to use these skills she’s learning in whatever she decides to do in the future,” Chu said. “Whether it be her swimming and cooking skills, it will be good for her to know.”

The positive impact that participating in hobbies has on a person is the reason Bordinhon feels inspired to try new things.

“I think it’s always important to get out of your comfort zone and try new things,” Bordinhon said. “It’s a good experience to do hobbies that involve interacting with people, like sports, as it can help with being more comfortable with speaking with other people and working in a team.”

Oftentimes, she turns to her hobbies in times of stress and anxiety.

“Whenever I feel like school is weighing me down, I always turn to my hobbies,” Bordinhon said. “I do Muay Thai around two times a week so that allows me to destress and spend time away from just staring at a screen for hours at a time.”

Having many activities to balance could be overwhelming for some.

“It may be a lot for others to handle, but it’s really helped me to become better with my time management,” Bordinhon said. “I’m better able to balance my school work, social life, and time alone to make sure I’m not overwhelmed or stressed most of the time.”

Thinking back on her first time surfing in Hawaii, Bordinhon shares a funny experience she had. 

“I went too far out while surfing in Hawaii,” Bordinhon said. “My parents ended up looking an hour and a half, but I didn’t even know I was lost. Sadly they didn’t let me surf for the rest of the day, but looking back on it, it was quite funny.”

Her mom plays a big role in how she started her journey in discovering new hobbies.

“When I was younger, my mom always pushed me to try out new things,” Bordinhon said. “While I was living in Brazil, she would put me into many different types of sports just so I would have something to do after school and to get into the habit of trying out new things.”

To this day, the initial “push” from her mother inspires her to keep going.

“Now that I’m older, I realize now that what my mom did was so important,” Bordinhon said. “Doing all of this helps me to challenge myself in school with my classes and choose to take harder classes instead of ones that I know I am able to do. My mom always said that hobbies help to build the person that you are, as you challenge yourself and get a chance to get better at something new.”