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    Santa Ana, Calif., native skips school, joins Marines

    PARRIS ISLAND, SC, UNITED STATES

    02.24.2017

    Story by Lance Cpl. Aaron Bolser 

    Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island           

    Esther D. Esparza was well on her way to being a collegiate-level wrestler on an athletic scholarship. At 19 years old, the athletically built Santa Ana, Calif., native, could have been competing with girls who wrestle on an Olympic level.
    Getting to that level required a huge investment in time and effort. During wrestling season, she was at practice from 1:30-5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8-11:30 a.m. on Saturday. Put another way, a varsity wrestler at Esparza’s Hillcrest High School can spend 324 hours practicing over the course of a season. During the so-called offseason, wrestlers get 240 hours of mat time. Over the course of four years, that’s more than 2,250 hours. Between tournaments, conditioning and practice, Esparza dedicated herself to getting as much time on the mats as she could. You could even say wrestling was her life.
    “Esther was a hard worker from the very beginning,” said Ernie Ledesma, Esparza’s coach at Hillcrest High School. “[She] never complained and always gave everything she had in practice and in the classroom.”
    That dedication helped Esparza win her first tournament in her sophomore year of high school. From there, she only showed improvement in both physicality and sportsmanship.
    “Esther was always humble, always giving a helping hand to help her opponent after she got the pin or giving a small hug after the match, whether she won or lost,” said Ledesma. “She did take losing serious and would always use her losses to get better.”
    By her junior year, she had already qualified for the state-level competition, which was no small feat.
    First, she had to place in the top four competitors in some smaller, named tournaments, like the one Esparza won her sophomore year, “Queen of the Hills.” Next, she had to place in a regional tournament, proving she is among the best in her area. After that, she had to do well at the larger sectional tournament put on by the California Interscholastic Federation.
    In her senior year, Esparza once again met all of those requirements and was able to take 5th place at state. By that time, she had the attention of some collegiate athletic programs, and multiple colleges each offered her an athletic scholarship.
    However, if you look for “Esther Esparza” on any of those team rosters, you won’t find it. Esther Esparza has spent the last three months on Parris Island, S.C., training to be a U.S. Marine and is now Pfc. Esparza, graduating with Platoon 4007, Oscar Company, 4th Recruit Training Battalion, on Feb. 24, 2017.
    Her time on Parris Island began the same way it begins for any new recruit. Upon arrival, Esparza was introduced to a new world full of yelling one second and staying quiet the next, sprinting one second and standing stone-still the next.
    “I went from being an individual on a mat to being just another recruit,” said Esparza.
    Her coaches were replaced with Marine Corps drill instructors.
    “They moved with such precision,” said Esparza. “They were sharp. They were angry. They were… scary.”
    Esparza said she also noticed the passion in all of the instructors who helped mold her into a Marine, and she said she hopes to find her own passion in the Marine Corps.
    She said sometimes she thinks about her life back home. She said she misses the little moments with her family, like singing with her little sister. She said she also has a stronger appreciation for her parents.
    “My father’s a working man,” Esparza said. “He wore boots to work every day for 18 years. Now, I wear boots to work. Now, I know how he must have felt.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 02.24.2017
    Date Posted: 02.24.2017 15:24
    Story ID: 224779
    Location: PARRIS ISLAND, SC, US

    Web Views: 763
    Downloads: 0

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