By MUSHFIQUE TANZIM AHMED
In the intricate tapestry of collegiate pursuits, Nathan Sill‘23 emerges as a multifaceted individual whose journey at Beloit College transcends the confines of the ordinary.
He graduated with a degree in psychology and was a core member of the swim and dive team throughout his four-year tenure. Sill’s commitment to academic and athletic excellence is palpable.
However, his narrative takes an intriguing twist with his role as the founder and president of the Parkour Club, a testament to his passion for the dynamic discipline that seamlessly blends physical prowess with mental acuity.
Currently, Sill has embarked on a new venture as the director and producer of a documentary, offering a glimpse into his creative prowess. Delving deeper into his pursuits, he is an integral member of Sigfreed, a parkour collective that transcends traditional boundaries, focusing on urban exploration, physical development, and mental health.
In this feature, The Round Table unravels the layers of Nathan Sill’s compelling story, exploring the intersections of academia, athleticism, and artistic expression that define his unique collegiate experience.
RT: Tell me a bit about yourself. Where are you from? What are you interested in?
Nathan: Well, where do I start? I’m 22 years old, and I’m from Beloit, Wisconsin. I was a psych major and I graduated this May. I’m interested in parkour, and I’m making a documentary called Afterglow, and it is a parkour and mental health documentary. I’ve been doing parkour for about six years now. I had to take a break during the second half of my freshman year of college because of a back injury. When I got injured I got an MRI and found out I had three ruptured discs, and after the surgery, there were some complications that left me paralyzed for almost two years. After lots of rehab both physically and mentally, I’ve been able to get back into parkour and started doing fun stuff again.
RT: Wow, that’s quite an event you had. You were no stranger to anyone here on campus. What can you tell us more about you that we don’t know?
Nathan: I grew up here in Beloit, a little outside the town. I grew up in the country, so it was pretty isolated. I went to Beloit Memorial High School which is where I met a lot of my close friends who are in the documentary itself, and we grew up together, did parkour together around our sophomore year of high school, fell out of it for a tiny bit because I had other sports stuff going around, but really dove back into it during my senior year of high school, and that’s when we made Sigfreed, which is our parkour team’s name that was based off the dramatic myth of the hero Sigfreed who slays a dragon and drinks its blood, gaining supernatural powers to talk to animals, super strength and stuff like that. For us, we had different obstacles in our personal lives, and we wanted it to kind of represent that every normal person has a lot of things going on, but you can be your own hero and help yourself to slay that metaphorical dragon. Hence, us choosing the name to represent that anyone can overcome difficult situations.
RT: That’s a pretty cool backstory with how you guys came up with the name. What more can you tell us about Sigfreed?
Nathan: The team itself has been going on since that senior year of high school. Over the years, we have added a few members, some from the college itself. Right now, the team consists of me, Evan Rusmisel, Devon McIntyre, Max Saladar‘23, and Ben Xiong‘25, who is currently the president of the Parkour Club and is also part of the Beloit Ultimate Frisbee Family (BUFF). It’s been a pretty fun journey, growing together, going to new places like Louisiana, California, South Dakota, South Carolina, checking out abandoned buildings, training with new people, and exploring new places with them. It’s been a fun time.
RT: What else have you been involved with?
Nathan: After graduation, I’ve put a lot of my time into making this documentary film. The film is called Afterglow. The documentary is about a group of parkour athletes who explore their past traumas, and how it’s shaped them to be the people they are today. Our dream goal for the future is to have outreach programs within the community, such as hosting after-school movement clinics. We hope that if the movie does well, we can use that support to expand our horizons within our organization. The film is planned to officially premiere in April at the Beloit International Film Festival, but we will be doing a private screening on December 9th at the Weissberg Auditorium!
RT: How important was parkour to you in Beloit?
Nathan: Like I said, we started parkour back in high school, so I have been no stranger to the campus. We would come around campus all the time, goof around and play around, climb stuff, and sometimes, some college students would think that we were college students, but we’ve been around the campus since we were little. One of our members, Evan, has been climbing and being around campus since he was five years old. His mom, who also went to the college, would drop him off and let him do this thing. For me, I would go to swim clinics here on campus throughout my younger years. I’ve been around here since I was eight or nine, and pretty much knew Beloit College more than I knew my high school, as I would spend more time here than anywhere else.
RT: What made you decide to dedicate yourself to parkour?
Nathan: Parkour, I would say, is not for everyone. I think everyone can do it, and that was what got me into actually doing this sort of thing. To me, it was very free. It sounds kind of simple, but parkour is just something you can do anywhere you want, and however you want. Because at its basis, it’s just movement, and it allows you to redefine the outside environment in a more creative way. I remember, what solely got me into parkour was during my freshman year, Evan (who I had just met at the time) and I were watching a video on YouTube of someone doing parkour. To see someone climb and jump around in different ways made me want to try it and at that moment, the world became different. I started to see the world like an obstacle, and trying to climb around and find new ways to move around was like seeing color for the first time. It made me really push myself to learn and explore more with this.
RT: Any advice to anyone within the community who would like to pursue something like this?
Nathan: I would say if you find something that you’re passionate about or interested in doing for a long time, I’d say, take the leap of faith, commit to it, push yourself, push boundaries. Learn to know if it is something you want to do, and are willing to embrace the struggles and challenges that come with it. But at the same time, I would say that you need to know if this is right for you, or not, and that realize that sometimes, life will be crazy, but that you should never give up and lose hope.
Featured Image Credit: Afterglow
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