Daniella Espinoza '15 Recruiting Profile

I knew I wanted to be a biological engineer when my first science class in freshmen year was over. The teacher had pulled a wicked powerpoint, advertising that major as something life-saving to society, extraordinary for the ordinary and prosperous only for the passionate ones. Without even looking at the IB learner profile, I was already being a risk taker, and before I knew it, I had enrolled myself in challenging courses such as Biology higher level, Economics, Environmental Studies and more. This indeed demanded many hours of study outside the classroom, which was something very limiting for me, due to my daily 3 hour training for 7 days a week, only for the pursuit of becoming better and better each day as a U20 National Player of Peru. With perseverance and devotion, I had been dedicating my afternoons at the national olympic soccer fields of Peru (La Videna) since the end of  my freshmen year. Gallons couldn't equal the accumulation of sweat I generated through the years but there eventually emerged a unit of capacity that cracked my balance meter. I never slacked off in school, and my physical activity never once made me question my passion for the sciences, but it did come to a point where my obsession for soccer was jeopardizing my grades. As I repaired my life balance meter, I became inquired to learn as much as I could about biology. I embarked on a 5 day journey to the Peruvian Amazon, anxious but eager to see the tremendous diversity. As I was collecting data in a canopy tower, trying to verify my hypothesis which stated a positive coorelation between sunlight intensity and leaf surface area, the tour guides suddenly began juggling a soccer ball. Before a blink of an eye, I had practically jumped off the tower to join in. Joga bonito. It turned into a scrimmage on a muddy and slippery terra firme field. The rain only made the scenario more beautiful, although it did contribute to the humidity that complicated everyone's breathing. I didn't know my teammates names, and to make things simpler, we numbered each other, or better yet, named each other after famous soccer players. I'm no show off, but I did earn the name of Xavi by one of my teammates, as soon as I scored the first goal. "Don't play, there are snakes, insects, even jaguars in the jungle!" said an opponent. "Good! They can join in!" I replied. Deal with Setbacks.Adaptability. Confidence. Awareness. Sacrifice. These are a few of the many qualities a real player should possess, whether they're intangible or not, and I believe I had what it takes, to fight for jersey pride.