After the recent catastrophes around his hometown, table tennis champ and Oak Park sophomore Jonathan Qin has taken the recent disruption in training as an opportunity to give back to his community.

Qin first started learning table tennis in China.

“I started playing table tennis because I used to go back to China for months at a time and I would have nothing to do and was bored every day,” Qin wrote to the Talon.

Because of his demanding schedule, Qin occasionally has to miss school in order to travel for training camps and tournaments.

“I love traveling with my friends in airports or different cities in the U.S. or in cities in different countries,” Qin wrote.

Qin has traveled to most states in the United States, Canada, El Salvador, Germany, China, South Korea, Luxembourg and other countries as well, Luxembourg being his favorite.

“I stay in the U.S. mostly and I also go to Las Vegas because the U.S. Nationals and U.S. Open are usually held there,” Qin wrote.

Qin also participates in U.S. Youth and Adult Ranking Tournaments, Adult and Youth team trials, local tournaments and youth international events.

As a table tennis player, Qin is placed in the top 8 cadet (players under 15 years old) as well as top 24 junior (players under 18) in the United States. Along with his placings in the U.S., he’s placed in El Salvador and Luxembourg and trains two to three hours a day.

Already working to find a balance between school and sport, Qin said his table tennis schedule was severely impacted by the recent California fires.

“I am not able to train as I usually do because of the fires and because we have to be cautious every second,” Qin wrote. “I was just praying and hoping that me and all my loved ones would be safe and that our house would be OK.”

Qin has used the spare time on his hands away from table tennis to provide for his community.

“[Jonathan] helped to organize people to donate food, supplies, and money to the Oak Park fire station and took part in delivering a check from the Oak Park Chinese community to an Oak Park fireman’s family,” mother Joy Qin wrote to the Talon. “[He] established the Jonathan Table Tennis Academy. He spends a lot of time to train kids and seniors for free.”