Sports
Isabella Alvarez
By Amelie Dinh ('23)
Currently a junior at IWA, Isabella Alvarez shares her experiences with confidence building and reminders about taking care of your mental health.
Isabella started in taekwondo watching her brother but soon became fascinated in trying it out for herself. Initially, she did taekwondo to pass the time but ended up enjoying it. Her enjoyment led to many years of training and over her seven years of training, she achieved many stunning accomplishments. Isabella has won 1st place at nationals, has been invited to compete in many international competitions and tournaments, and has been top 10 in the nation at one point. But even more than her accomplishments, Isabella values the lessons learned from taekwondo. Her experience with taekwondo has shaped her mindset and attitude. She says taekwondo has “taught me to be stronger” and “not let anyone push you around”. It has given her invaluable lessons on confidence, something she has taken with her into high school. Freshman year, Isabella joined the track and field team, not knowing what to expect. However, equipped with a determined attitude formed in taekwondo, she made varsity, one of her accomplishments that she is most proud of. She believes that taekwondo gave her the confidence to be her best self and “feel prepared” for track. Part of her mindset was that “it doesn’t matter if you succeed or fail, win or lose”. It’s really about the experience and what you learn from it. Every experience is an opportunity to learn and grow.
Last year, even within the midst of the pandemic, Isabella made regionals for track and field. She doesn’t think she could have done it without her teammates, an aspect she particularly likes about track. There is something great about knowing you have someone there to support you and “having people alongside to push you to be your best”.
Throughout it all, Isabella has had her fair share of challenges. She shared her time spent recovering from a pulled hamstring, an injury that prevented her from training and doing taekwondo. It was weird, she said, sitting there and watching from a distance instead of training. To cope and to pass the extra time, she picked up sewing and quilting, inspired by her time in IWA’s textile art class. Time passed quickly with the new hobbies and she eventually recovered with the help of her physical therapist and encouragement from her family and got back into taekwondo. But she hasn’t forgotten her experiences of being injured. Her plan for the future is to pursue a career as a physical therapist. She hopes to help more people like her jump back into their normal routine with ease. Her advice for getting back on your feet after an injury is to slowly return to normal but also know your limits, something she also has applied to balance extracurriculars and school.
Junior year has not been kind to many students, Isabella included. She found it hard to balance school and taekwondo, so for the sake of her mental health, she took a break from taekwondo to focus on school. It can be hard to find a healthy balance between extracurricular activities and school. Know that it’s okay to listen to your body and take a break. Prioritizing your mental health can mean taking a break from activities if it becomes too much, even if you love them.
As for the new year, Isabella is still planning on running track and field, so you can watch out for her on the track!