Virginia Nava, a junior at Firebaugh High School, sees a lot of connections between her ARC summer experience in Yosemite and her new passion: wrestling. She says, “Wrestling is a team sport, but it’s focused on individual effort and it’s a battle within yourself.” For her, hiking to the top of Tuolumne Peak, backpacking 50-plus miles, and rock climbing up a steep granite rock face were similar. She says, “With ARC, you’re individually trying to better yourself and understand who you are with a team supporting you.”
Virginia says her ARC experience made her feel more confident to try something new and make friends with her wrestling teammates. “On the summer course, I went in only knowing one person. At the time, I wasn’t very social. I thought ‘It’s a bunch of strangers and I’m worried about getting along with them.’ But, because of what we experienced together, we became a family.” When she tried out for wrestling, the ease of her ARC friendships was on her mind and she told herself, “I’ll give it a try!”
Virginia remembers a conversation she had at ARC with Breezy Jackson, Director of UC Merced’s Yosemite & Sequoia Field Stations, saying “Breezy encouraged me to be open and allow others to get to know me.” With this in mind, Virginia has developed a strong relationship with her wrestling coach, Esme Espinoza. She says, “Being vulnerable is healthy. If you don’t express how you’re really feeling, it closes doors to other people. I developed the confidence to speak openly to Esme because of ARC and she’s very supportive of me—always listening and being empathetic.”
The physical challenge of the ARC summer course also helped prepare Virginia for the demands of wrestling. Virginia says, “When I first went to the mats, I saw the 70-pound dummies that we practice with and I said to myself ‘I hiked with a heavy backpack in the summer. I’m confident I can be successful.'” She joined the high school wrestling team as a sophomore and quickly had success—winning her first match. Last year, her team won the West Sierra League for their collective accomplishments.
Virginia’s goal is to major in civil engineering at a UC or CSU. Her desire to study engineering stems from her interest in problem solving, which is also a big part of wrestling. If your opponent shoots for single leg, a common technique, you have to be strategic about how you respond. She also says she wants to make sure that being in the outdoors and visiting Yosemite continue to be a part of her life. “I really fell in love with Yosemite [during ARC]. I enjoyed the silence and pitch black at night. You didn’t have to worry about anything. You were just in nature.”
When asked what she would say to ARC’s supporters, she says “Your support isn’t taken for granted. What ARC does is really beneficial for a lot of students. Coming from a small town, we don’t have many opportunities. ARC really opened my eyes. Because of your support, I was able to accomplish things that were never in my mind before: backpacking and winning wrestling matches!”