Aiden Vielma '24 Recruiting Profile

"No sacrifice, no victory” is a quote from Transformers, one of my favorite movies, that also applies to my view of life.  I was born in Mission, TX. IDEA Public Schools has been a part of my entire academic life. I attended the same charter school district at 3 different campuses, IDEA Mission from pre-k to 1st grade, IDEA McAllen from 2nd grade to 10th grade, and then began my junior year at IDEA Toros.  

This last opportunity came to fruition unexpectedly one day I woke up and received a text from a local account followed on Instagram, it was a recruiter asking if I was still in high school and involved in soccer because there was a new project their campus was rolling out.  I was a bit confused but shared my dad's phone number not thinking much about it and went along my days but still thinking about it in the back of my mind. My dad talked to me after the call and shared that to join the program I would need to move to Idea Toros which was a school I was familiar with since middle school and grew up playing against and many of my friends that had moved there in 8th grade.  

My life is surrounded by a lot of what Ifs, due to me being indecisive and overthinking a lot. So, when getting this text about possibly finally moving to idea toros after so long of thinking about it but putting it aside caught up to me. My dad told me the coach wanted me to try out to see if I would be able to play with the team and wanted to see the skill and talent I had. Still contemplating the decision to leave the school that has raised me since 2nd grade I had to be open-minded to opportunities given to me. Eventually, I showed up to practice the next week at the school around 8-9 a.m. I was not nervous but just wondering how I would do and what was going to happen, seeing guys I had played in the previous year with my school I knew they were good players. The coach talked to my dad and asked if I would move to the school because he believed that I could be an asset to the team, which was good news due to my passion for soccer and Idea Toros being a good opportunity for those who want to play in college, however, it also spiraled my indecisiveness and I began overthinking all the possible outcomes and caused me to have to think a lot about whether I was going to stay and give up this opportunity or move to a new school my junior year and see what this school had to offer for me. 

I had an epiphany as the days went by in the summer talking to my friend's opinions on what I should do, all telling me I should stay. Thinking about leaving the school I had practically been at my whole life wasn’t something I was considering due to all the personal connections I had with teachers and friends I had that had flourished over the years, new environments typically aren't something that I am used to. Then the quote played in my mind; “no sacrifice, no victory” I tell myself this to remind myself if I want to succeed in life it takes sacrifices no matter how uncomfortable the experience might be. Getting out of my comfort zone is something I have struggled with doing throughout my life whether it be in my personal life or in school whether it be something as small as trying a new food. My reason for this is that I know what I like, or so I think because there have been many occasions where stepping out of my comfort zone had a good outcome and benefited me for example, my sense of style when it comes to clothing, I have experimented with and had to try things I had never worn before but In the end, people often compliment or notice the first thing about me is the way I dress. I had to maintain this mindset when it came to deciding where I wanted to spend the rest of my high school years and depart from the school, I practically called home.