A lot of students have something they’re passionate about and often these passions are one way to get rid of stress. For rising sophomore Daniel Yang, solving Rubik’s Cubes is his stress release. Able to solve the puzzle in less than 20 seconds, Wingspan’s Janet Nguyen sat down with Yang to learn his secrets.

Wingspan: Why do you like Rubik’s Cubes?

Yang: “It’s like a game to me and I like solving the puzzle because it’s a lot of work and I like solving difficult things and it’s just fun to mess.”

Wingspan: How long have you been learning how to solve the Rubik’s Cube?

Yang: “I actually learned and got trained solving cubes last summer. I used to be very slow at it, but I’m really good now and I can do it under 20 seconds.”

Wingspan: When do you solve Rubik’s Cubes?

Yang: “I pick up the cube when I’m stressed because when I’m stressed, I feel like I can’t do anything and since I have a lot of confidence in solving the puzzle, it’s just like “wow I finished it” when I have play with it.”

Wingspan: Has solving the cube impacted you in any way?

Yang: “I actually learned how to be patient with myself because when I was a beginner, not knowing how to solve the puzzle really well, it took some time for me to get used to it, so I learned how to be calm and patient. Also, I learn how to take things slow like if I keep practicing, I’ll get better and faster.”

Wingspan: What do you not like about the 3-D puzzle?

Yang: “There’s honestly nothing I don’t like about the cube, but I used to dislike how I would solve the cube and there would be one different color remaining.”

Wingspan: What do you think is one of your accomplishments on the Rubik’s Cube?

Yang: “When I solved the puzzle in 18.6 seconds because some people take hours solving it and I used to be one of those people, but as I practiced, I got so much faster.”