Jamie Esparza has worked practically her whole life to get to the level of difficulty she is at in gymnastics. Twelve years of training soon paid off when Esparza was chosen to represent Bel Air High School and El Paso at the national meet, where she placed 29th in bars.

Esparza started her gymnastic career when she was 6 years old, after seeing her cheerleading sisters at practice and watching them tumble. Soon she enrolled into tumbling classes where she fell in love with the sport.

As a senior, this is her last year on a high school level team. “My last season has been pretty good. I am proud of what I have done over my high school years and all my hard work has finally paid off, but I’m not done.”

While asking Esparza if she considered continuing her gymnastic career in college, she said, “Yes, I would like to continue doing what I love and hopefully everything goes well with that. But if not, I think I might end it here because joining a club at a gym wouldn’t be the same.”

Talking about her last meet for Bel Air might have been sad for Esparza, but she was nothing but smiles when talking about it.

“I wanted my last meet to be special because it was my last meet as a Highlander and my last meet with my coach. As my last meet, of course I was nervous but soon the excitement took over and it was good vibes.”