Sweat running down her face, Hershey High School freshman Ashlynn Searer fumbles the cube furiously in her hands, and in seven swift moves, breaks her previous time record.
It’s no secret that the ever famous Rubik’s Cube is one of the most loved, and one of the most hated toys ever. It’s nearly impossible to solve. Invented in 1974 by Erno Rubik, the colorful, three-dimensional cube has been attempted, and failed by most of the world. However, to a handful of people, including Searer who is a member of Hershey’s own Rubik’s cube club, solving the cube is an easy task.
Many people ask the question, “Why is the Rubik’s Cube so hard to solve in the first place?” According to Hershey High School sophomore and founder of the Rubik’s Cube club, Amod Mathur, “There are forty three quintillion combinations the cube can create, so you need to know the exact way to solve it.” The structure of the cube doesn’t exactly make solving it a walk in the park either. The cube has six faces covered by one of six colors with white opposite of yellow, blue opposite of green, and orange opposite of red. The red, white, and blue are arranged in a clockwise formation as well. This detailed structure may sound confusing, but it’s paramount for being victorious in solving the cube.
Few can solve the cube. While there is only a small percentage of the world who can manage to solve the cube, the majority of the nation gets too frustrated and never ends up finishing. In fact, out of the fifty Hershey High School students surveyed, forty two had attempted the cube, and thirty six students failed to finish solving it. These statistics prove that the cube will stump nearly anyone. So what is the key to success when solving the cube? Most people think it takes a lot of math and science to solve the cube. It doesn’t. In fact, according to Rubik’s Cube club members, memorization is the key to solving the cube.  According to Mathur, “It just takes lots and lots of practice.” Mathur may make solving the cube look easy, but in truth, he says that it’s nearly impossible if you don’t know the proper way to solve it.
Many people do not think that there is a proper way to solve the cube. Many people just twist the pieces to try to get the colors to line up, but those who try that will fail every time. There are a few different combinations on how to solve the cube, but Searer says, “Start slow and memorize the steps. There are many different patterns but start with the easy ones.” Learning the steps can be done a number of ways. Many people like Searer learned the modern way: by watching a YouTube video. What about the rest of the club? Mathur was taught the seven step system which he continues to teach to others through his club in hopes of everyone achieving success.
So what exactly is the seven step system? First, you form crosses in the middle of each side, then you do all the first letter corners, next you form all of the second layer edges, and by now your first layers should be done. Then you form a yellow plus sign and place the corners in the correct places. Next you should flip the corners on top, and finally you should see the way to get the colored pieces to their correct sides. This process can get confusing, but practice makes perfect in the end.
A group of Hershey High School students that have mastered this system is the Rubik’s Cube club. Mathur created the club earlier this year in order to show that solving the cube is not impossible, and that even getting faster was an achievable feat. “I want to spread the idea of the Rubix Cube to more people,” said Mathur. Competing is the dream. Mathur sees expansion and success of the club in the future. Searer is also a member of the club, but unlike Mathur she had a much simpler goal when picking up her first cube. “I just wanted to be able to say that I solved the Rubik’s cube.” Was she able to solve it her first try? Absolutely not. It took her many tries to learn how to solve it. She even stated, “I didn’t think I was able to solve it.” Searer like Mathur is a firm believer that while the cube may be nearly impossible the first times you try and solve it, it’s not as difficult as people think and anyone can learn how to solve it.
The Rubik’s Cube, although created over forty years ago, is still a hot toy that almost everyone has attempted to solve. Competitions are held worldwide, and many people have attempted to break the speed record of 5.55 seconds. Many people have been spreading the cultural idea of the brainbuster that is the Rubik’s Cube. Fascinations are exploding. Clubs are growing along with the cubes popularity. These clubs, including the Hershey one, erase the thoughts that most of the world have that say that solving the cube is impossible. What do these clubs try to teach their members? According to Mathur, “The cube is a lot easier than people think.