First-year student Andrew Kotila's fastest time for solving a Rubik's Cube isn't close to the world record. Even so, don't bet that you can beat him.

Kotila's best time was 38 seconds, set during his junior year at Bruin High School in Southern California. A remarkable time, but still more than 30 seconds short of the current world record of 7.08 seconds for a 3×3×3 Rubik's Cube, set by Erik Akkersdijk in 2008.

Kotila, who has loved math and the challenge of solving problems since childhood, was introduced to a Rubik's Cube at a games arcade when he was a freshman in high school. Soon after he saw a Rubik's Cube competition on TV and decided he wanted to master the puzzle. It didn't take him long. After locating suggestions online, he figured out in a day or so how to solve the cube.

Kotila uses a basic three-level method, but has added his own algorithms - problem-solving procedures - along the way. "Once you learn the basic method it's fun to make your own algorithms," he said. "You start to see a shortcut that allows you to skip ahead and you write the algorithm down." He believes he has formulated six in total.

The key to solving the Rubik's Cube lies in understanding how it works and then memorizing patterns, Kotila explained. On each side, the center pieces never move and mark the sides' colors. Kotila first identifies the green side, forms a green cross on that side, then works the green to the corners. "I quickly understood the patterns and liked putting them together," he said, demonstrating as he talks. His hands move rapidly, as if preprogrammed.

Although only in his first semester, Kotila has already chosen chemistry as a major. In fact, he was drawn from California to Pennsylvania by the College's strong science program. "I also liked the size of Gettysburg," he said, "and the fact that on-campus housing was guaranteed for all four years." So far he is enjoying his Gettysburg experience. He likes the other students in his residence hall and has found everyone to be "very friendly." In addition to a first-year seminar, Cryptography: The Science of Secrecy, he is taking Calculus, Chemical Structure and Bonding, and Introduction to Writing.

As for the future, Kotila hopes eventually to move back to California and work as a chemical engineer in green technology.

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