If 11-year-old Eli Timma were an animal, he would choose to be, “some type of eagle,” mainly because they can fly. Perhaps flying would assist him in one of his current endeavors; he’s a paper boy for The Herald and distributes to certain residents in Farmville. The reason for his current employment?

“I wanted some money and my mom was like, ‘you should check the newspaper and see if they have any open spots,’ and we heard that someone was leaving so we decided to pick a spot,” Eli said.

He said he’s saving up for a computer.

“All of my cousins have nice computers and my dad has a really nice computer so I’m trying to get a really nice computer because we all play this video game,” Eli said.

The video game he’s talking about is Mech World, which he describes as being about clans of robot spiders. Having a nice computer would help meet the game’s technological needs.

Eli is homeschooled by his mother, Diane Timma who was previously an elementary school teacher. He said one of his favorite subjects is history, mainly because of the Civil War.

“A lot of people laid down their lives for the country because they didn’t want to have slaves,” Eli said.

He said he also likes history because, “you have to a learn a lot about maps.”

Eli said he doesn’t know what he wants to be when he grows up.

He also plays baseball for PEFYA Majors and is a part of the Boy Scouts.

Eli and his friends play a lot outside near his home, he noted playing outside near bamboo as one of the places they like to hide.

“We can climb the bamboo and kind of like hide down in the bamboo because they’re all really close together so it gives us a good spot where we can get in and see through and some of the other kids won’t be able to fit through there,” Eli said.

He cited “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” as a current favorite TV show.

Eli’s father, Mike Timma, said Eli is, “very creative.”

“He likes to build things and … he can be very helpful,” Mike said. “If he knows that people need help he’s usually willing to pitch in and help out.”