Fourth grader Esiah ‘Si’ Schlag first answered the call of the cube while scrolling for something to watch. He browsed until a documentary on one of the greatest “cubers” of all time popped up on the screen, a flurry of red, white, blue, and orange squares swiftly shepherded by capable hands. A cuber or cubist is any player of the Rubik’s cube but is a moniker most associated with players competing for time against other cubists. Isiah was already fascinated by the Rubik’s cube; his brother and father are both cubers of varying skill levels, but now he was hooked on the possibility of Rubik’s greatness.

Intent on discovering how to solve the cube, Si started learning from the DIY master, YouTube. However, owning the right tool for the job is as essential in cubing as any other trade. The cube he borrowed from his brother was “painfully slow,” and he couldn’t work the combinations at the desired speed. Undeterred, he continued to absorb video tutorials until he could use a cube of his brother’s that had smoother action. It wasn’t long after, in January of 2023, that he completed the Rubik’s cube for the first time. The challenge wasn’t learning the process, Si says. “Ten minutes to learn it,” by his account. “But then after that, I just forgot. My mind went completely blank.” Not one to allow critical talent to be lost in the void of short-term memory, he dedicated another two weeks to retraining himself until he could replicate his earlier success. He can now solve the cube in 22 seconds.

Si carries a case of cubes with him, each designed for a particular purpose and feat. He shows us his collection: a two by two, the seven by seven, the axis cube, and the three by three in a “superflip pattern.” We ask how long it would take him to solve the three-by-three set in this particular quickstart configuration: “Maybe 30 or 40 seconds, because the first step is basically good as done. All I have to do is turn the top layer and just boom, boom, boom, boom…” Twenty-two booms, to be exact. Before our eyes, he maneuvers all twenty-six multicolored pieces into place in well under thirty seconds.

Si explains that solving the cube is based on predictions. His movements aren’t out of reflex but based on an ongoing calculation to understand what he’s “going to do later.”

A prodigious feat spurs prodigious career aspirations. Though fourth grade leaves Si plenty of time for professional development, he already has an ideal occupation in mind, in addition to two different contingency plans. “So far, I’ve decided on becoming a geologist,” Si says. “If that doesn’t work, maybe try working for NASA?” When his university years arrive, if he finds he can’t hack it analyzing rock formations or modeling data for a mission to Jupiter, he’ll settle for a third option: education. “If NASA doesn’t work out, I’ll just be a teacher.” Due to his cuber background, he’s already uniquely qualified for a job that requires patience, perseverance, and the ability to identify and solve problems quickly, and by that, we mean teaching. The NASA/Geology stuff would be easy for a visual-spatial think-King like Si. Honestly, we’d love to see him in the classroom, moving students’ minds into super flip patterns to ease their pieces in and along their core. Twenty or so young minds click into a place of understanding in under thirty seconds. The cube isn’t a metaphor for how Si lives and thinks; it’s the other way around. It’s an artifact of larger solutions to come.