Roller skates, accordions, and burritos: Senior’s spontaneity is his path to a life without regrets
Senior Juan Chandler says that he roller skates around campus while playing the according because “people need to have fun around here. All people do is sit in their dorm room and watch Netflix.” He also sells $3 burritos.
You might have already seen him rollerskating in front of the dorms, the Rhatigan Student Center, or even at The Keeper of the Plains. Maybe you’ve seen him skating while playing the accordion or the trumpet — the music keeping you company during a study break or on your way to class.
Juan Chandler, a senior studying communications at Wichita State, loves to meet new people. That’s why he sporadically rollerskates around campus while playing the accordion, which he got at a pawn shop in Mexico.
“I just do it because I want to have fun and one of my favorite things to do is to meet new people like all the time, and that is a really good way to make connections with people,” Chandler said.
In addition to the trumpet, accordian, and guitar, Chandler is currently learning how to play the bass. He’s self-taught, his only guidance coming from YouTube tutorial videos.
“I just like music. I want to give the people here some good music, cause they just listen to rap nowadays and I hate rap,” Chandler chuckled. “That’s my goal — they need to know what’s good.”
Chandler is a senior majoring in communications. He is often found around campus on roller skates with a ball or playing the accordion.
He’s an outgoing individual who also spontaneously sells burritos in the RSC for $3. He’s joined “almost every club” on campus and says he wants to pursue acting after graduation because he “might as well give it a try.”
“I’m going to graduate soon and I haven’t done anything in the past four years and I want to enjoy the last year. Once you graduate, it’ll be hard to meet people,” Chandler said. “[I’m] not going to regret doing anything, so I want to try everything. That’s one of the reasons why I rollerskate — so I don’t have any regrets after I graduate.”
But Chandler wasn’t always so extroverted. Throughout middle school and high school, he claims to have gone full days without speaking a single word.
“Back then, I used to be the complete opposite,” Chandler said. “I was really shy. I couldn’t talk. People thought I was a mute. I was super quiet — you wouldn’t believe it.”
But the motivation of wanting a girlfriend (which he is “still working on”) and being true to himself led Chandler to break out of his shell and become more outgoing.
“People think I’m a quiet person, but I’m not,” he said. “I need to reveal who I really am.”
After graduation, Chandler said he still plans to rollerskate around town, whether that be at The Keeper of the Plains or in a random neighborhood park.
“I also do it for myself because I want to be able to not be afraid to do things,” Chandler said. “So basically getting better at being myself.”
Karen Galindo was a reporter for The Sunflower. She majored in electronic media and minored in political science and international studies. For her future,...
