While many students have common hobbies like cooking or playing piano, a few Trojans have picked up a more niche hobby: target shooting.
Senior Casandra Oliva was first introduced to the sport of shooting through her father, who served six years in the U.S. Navy, Casandra Oliva said. Her favorite guns to shoot are a 0.22 caliber handgun and 0.22 caliber rifle, she added.
“I first started with the basics like learning how to clean it (the gun), how to take it apart, how to hold it, before I even had any live rounds in it,” Casandra Oliva said. “I was personally really scared when I first went (into the gun range) because it was very loud, but once I did go in, it took a bit of time to get used to the sounds.”
Through practice and constructive criticism from her father, Napoleon Oliva, Casandra Oliva was able to improve, she said. She first started off by dry firing, which is when you fire the gun with no ammunition, and eventually moved to firing with real bullets, she added.
“I would say the fear is still in the back of my mind, but I have learned to cope with it and come to terms with it,” Casandra Oliva said. “I’ve been more comfortable knowing (…) how to safely use the gun.”
Napoleon Oliva has been his daughter’s coach for as long as she has been learning, he said. Indoor gun ranges are especially noisy, so staying focused is extremely important, he added.
“While you may be good and sound in your bay (designated shooting section), you need to be aware of what others are doing in the bays next to you,” Napoleon Oliva said. “At the same time, I wanted to make sure that she wouldn’t do something that would violate safety rules, so that nobody would get hurt, including herself.”
Like many other hobbies, the skills Casandra Oliva gained from shooting have helped translate to other parts of her life, she said.
“It helps me clear my mind a bit and helps me calm my breathing,” Casandra Oliva said. “During classes and tests, I’m able to control my breathing and anxiety.”
Senior KavinKumar Sainathan picked up shooting as a hobby mostly due to the video games he played, but has only gone to an outdoor range four times, Sainathan said.
“I grew up playing Call of Duty, so I guess it is the fact that you can kind of do it in real life (that interested me),” Sainathan said. “But in real life it’s not some sort of video game.”
Sainathan’s first experience at the outdoor range was different than what he expected, he said.
“You order different packages based on what you want to shoot, so I got one of each type of weapon,” Sainathan said. “They (employees) started me off with a pistol just to familiarize myself with everything. The people there help you a lot so you just have to trust them.”
When handling any type of weapon, the number one priority is safety, Napoleon Oliva said.
“I know people have their biases against guns and other weapons systems, but it always comes down to safety,” Napoleon Oliva said. “The more you know about it, the less it becomes something that you are so afraid of.”