Stephanie Steiner | Arts & Life Co-Editor
Most of us know the luxury of being right-handed. Inventions are made for us, the way of doing things comes naturally, and we don’t even need to worry about getting pencil lead on the side of our hands while writing.
But junior Alicia Savoy is one of the lucky ones. She is left-handed and has always been, despite the world’s best efforts to sway her otherwise.
“You don’t really notice the differences until you look at people and you wonder why they are doing stuff differently than you are. You think it looks so weird when in reality, they’re probably saying that more about you,” Savoy said.
Not only does she write her checkmarks backwards, but she also gets the benefit of being a left-handed shooter on the women’s basketball team at Buena Vista University (BVU).
“When I started basketball in third grade, I was just shooting like everyone else with my right hand. My coach knew I was left-handed, so he thought I was trying to be ambidextrous. I thought that was just how you played the game by shooting with that hand,” Savoy said.
“The opponent doesn’t realize it as easily, so if they want to block you in basketball they won’t be as ready for you to shoot with your left hand. Same with volleyball – when you hit with your left hand, the ball goes in different areas of the court than a right-handed hitter’s ball would go,” Savoy said.
But, to be expected, there are several challenges that come with being left-handed in a right-handed world.
“One challenge I had was when I was little. Certain scissors were made with the sharp blade only facing one way, so if you’re left-handed or use your left hand to cut, the paper wouldn’t cut. It would just bend. That was always difficult; I always thought I couldn’t cut until the teacher gave me the adult scissors,” Savoy said.
Along with scissors, desks can also be a struggle. Single desks are sometimes made with the desk part protruding from the right side to accommodate right-handed students. Many times, there is only one left-handed desk in the room. Writing from left-to-right can be another hassle for a lefty because they get the pencil marks all over the sides of their palms, which is a pain that most right-handed writers never need to be concerned about.
Despite the downfalls, Savoy knows she was gifted by being left-handed and is automatically unique because of it.
“Just like my mom always said: Everyone is born right-handed, only the special ones get to be left-handed. I’m unique and I love it. I love having something different than everyone else,” Savoy said.
Graphic by Justice Gage
