Spectacular Kids of Athens County: Rachel Weekley, 16
By Danaline McPhail Bryant
August 7, 2008
Rachel Weekley is an authentic person, a teen who does her own thing and seems to have a ball doing it.
Rachel’s parents are Don and Sally Weekley. She has a sister, Eliza, 11, and a brother, Donovan, 5. Her main interests are karate, acting and mime.
“I just got my black belt in December,” she said. “I’ve been taking classes continually since I was little. I love the focus. It’s very calming, almost like a meditation. And because I am a girl growing up in a cruel world, it’s a way to protect myself.”
Asked if karate has improved her self-confidence, she answers with a qualified yes.
“It gives me somewhat more confidence, but more than that, it gives me awareness of my surroundings and knowing what would be a better place to be in,” she said. “It’s not overconfidence, though, because overconfidence leads to stupidity.”
Karate provides a lot of side benefits, in addition to the pleasure found in the sport itself.
“I get a lot of exercise,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t have to worry about exercising. And I’m not as anxious about being hurt. It makes you more confident that way. And you learn how to focus and concentrate. High school life gets hectic. I’m taking (advanced) classes, and it’s helped me to focus. I think it provides benefits in all areas of your life.”
She trains at the Athens Community Center and said earning her black belt took a lot of work.
“A year or so before getting it, I started training for it. I trained five days a week, if not more,” she said. “I had to teach myself to fight. Before I’d learned posture and technique, but then I was learning what works for me and my body type and what doesn’t.”
In March, she dislocated her knee, so she can’t compete for a while. “I’m lucky, though. I didn’t tear anything,” she said.
A junior at Athens High School, she plans to attend Ohio University after graduation and said she’ll continue with karate.
“I love it, but I also have a bit of responsibility to keep on with it,” she said. “I help with kids classes, and there aren’t many who can help. It’s really fun. I’m basically a 5-year-old at heart. I absolutely love working with kids. When you work with a kid who started out not being able to concentrate and then they get better, it’s feeling of euphoria.”
Her other great love in life is performing, both as an actor and a mime.
“I started acting at 6,” Rachel said. “I was a munchkin in “The Wizard of Oz.” I got totally pumped. I love it and have been doing it ever since. I got started in mime because I took a class at ARTS/West. Then I started learning to mimic every-day actions without props, and I watched old movies.”
Her ability to mime came in handy when Teen Theater Workshop participants went to the Farmer’s Market for fundraising. Initially, they were doing improvisational skits, but that didn’t work out.
“People playing music get attention right away, but if you are just standing around, no one notices you,” Rachel said. “I had the most experience with mime and thought, ‘What’s the worst that could happen? They might laugh at me, and that doesn’t bother me – I’m used to doing comedy. I just hoped I wouldn’t annoy anyone.”
The miming was a big hit.
“I had the traditional make-up on, and I was on one crutch and leg stabilizer and someone yelled, ‘No props!’ The next time my crutch was gone, and I’ve been doing it ever since. We raised a lot of money.”
Comedy is one of her favorite things to do.
“I love slapstick – the tumbling, the falls,” she said.
In one play, she had the part of an 8-year-old boy named Thor.
“At one point, I had to run and hit the couch, roll to the side, hit the table, and knock myself out and slump to the floor,” Rachel said. “It was hard to do just right, and the nights it worked it was beautiful – absolutely gorgeous and freaked out! Really great! We had a good director who had done a lot of slapstick, and he showed me just how to do it.”
Acting is in her future, she hopes.
“My dream is to be in an acting company and to be in films,” she said. “The stage is where I need to be. I’ll go to OU; they have a really nice theater department, and I know a lot of people there.”
And afterward?
“I’ll do whatever seems the best at the time,” Rachel said, brimming with confidence. She attributes that confidence to OU theater professor and director Bob Winter, someone who has had a great impact on her life.
“When I first auditioned for him, I really doubted myself,” she said. “But he convinced me that if I wanted it, I could make it. He’s been an ally of mine ever since. He gives little speeches for inspiration, and they are always just what I need to hear.”
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