Ranger Robert Trejo and his Rubik’s Cubing

By Mickail Thomas

Robert Trejo ‘24 is a big brother of four, casual math enjoyer, and an impressive cuber. Trejo discusses his journey in cubing, and some of his experiences as a cuber.

Robert Trejo ‘24 is a cuber. A cuber is someone who solves Rubik’s cubes, sometimes for fun, other times for proper competitions. Or, in Trejo’s words, “I solve twisty puzzles extremely quickly.”

Trejo has been cubing since 2020, giving him roughly 3 years of experience in solving Rubik’s cubes. In that timespan, he’s gone from solving a 3×3 (a traditional Rubik’s cube) in 2 minutes and fifteen seconds, to solving it in 9.42 seconds.

Back in 2020, Trejo’s first cube was “a joke Christmas present,” only being about 1.5 centimeters large. Trejo says it was challenging “because it was small and I was just learning how to solve it.”

When asked why he enjoys cubing, Trejo said, “because I constantly get better than myself.” Furthermore, he said he “[gets] extremely excited to tell others about [his] achievement[s],” referring to his constant growth.

Trejo landed in last place in his first 3×3 competition, but in the second competition, he landed in 51st place out of roughly 200 participants. In the latter competition, Trejo competed against Max Park, an extremely well-known cuber with a large following.

In the competition, Trejo and Max Park finished one of their solves at similar times, and despite facing someone akin to a legend, Trejo still had high hopes, telling himself, “Now it’s time to go for second place!”

Trejo says that he “recommend[s] everyone tries it.” He says, “Everyone will find it fun and [gain] enjoyment from it in some way.”

Arlen Rose, ‘24 has known Trejo since freshman year, and he’s “seen [Robert’s] record time go from 15 seconds to 9.”

Rose says, “Freshman year, Robert was just getting into cubing, but just a few years later, he’s doing it in less than ten seconds.” Rose said that “I think seeing Robert’s growth is pretty cool.”

When asked about Trejo’s cubes, Rose says, “In his bag, he has a whole pocket full of cubes of all shapes and sizes.” When asked to expand, Rose said, “Sometimes he had a whole bag just for his cubes.”