Magic has the power to captivate small crowds and capture people’s’ attention. Months of work and dedication go into perfecting a single trick. A magician dedicates countless hours so that he or she can seamlessly perform their tricks and captivate audiences.

Junior Chris Sedlacek has been practicing magic for over two years and has discovered ways to use his magic to create opportunities while also learning life skills. Through magic Sedlacek has found employment and learned patience, confidence and speaking skills that he can constantly improve upon as he perfects the rest of his tricks. Sedlacek has found ways to improve himself though his performances and the dedication needed for magic.

Sedlacek finds the most interesting part of magic to be the fact that one can constantly change the simplest trick to perfect it.

“It takes years to perfect the tricks . . . . You can always improve,” Sedlacek said.

According to Sedlacek even the easiest of tricks can be constantly improved upon until it is absolutely perfect which requires large amounts of dedication, discipline, and patience.

Some magicians spend years perfecting a single trick as they work to make the trick as seamless as possible, Sedlacek explains.

“I could show you one trick and come back with the same trick five years later and it would be drastically improved,” Sedlacek said.

Sedlacek applies the skills needed to real life applications as he continues to develop his tricks. He instills patience and focus to improve all aspects of his magic.

Recently, Sedlacek used his magic skills to find a job at Mr. Fun’s Costume Shop, as the magician on staff. Sedlacek has had the job for around three months now and he works most week days. Sedlacek described the impact the job has had on him thus far.

“Now that I have a job doing something I love, I enjoy working. It has also taught me how to be responsible and self-dependent,” Sedlacek said.

Sedlacek carries multiple different magic supplies on him at all times, including two decks of cards, a magnetic ring, a pen, a quarter and a penny. Sedlacek sees magic as a part of his personality and a skill that he can constantly rely on.

Sedlacek’s coworkers enjoy the light and whimsical environment that his magic creates at work as they watch customers’ amazement at Sedlacek’s magic. Coworker Hunter Riks described the magic’s impact on Sedlacek.

“The magic is like an insurance policy . . . it makes his job much easier,” Riks said.

Sedlacek sees it as something that he can always fall back on and it has made his job much easier knowing that he is being paid to do something that he can constantly improve upon.

Sedlacek also described the way magic has taught him people skills as he has improved the way he approaches people and performs for them.

“Magic has taught me confidence and speech skills, I remember when I first started magic I was so nervous and now I approach people with confidence, I’m not afraid to approach people anymore,” Sedlacek said.

Sedlacek enjoys showing people magic tricks in between periods during the school day. Often times, before class starts, Sedlacek approaches students sitting around him who maybe do not know that he does magic. Senior Jonathan Dye described the first impression Sedlacek’s magic made on him.

“You can tell he has practiced. He seems to be very good at approaching people and entertaining them for even just a few seconds,” Dye said.

Sedlacek looks forward to further improving his magic as he also improves upon his life skills. Magic has taught him to approach situations with patience and understanding of the dedication to perfecting a task.