By: Giselle Robles
Holding up a microphone is a commentator who is ready to observe and report on every move of the fight. He exclaims after a bell rings twice,
“Iiiiiiiiin the red corner… JESSIEEEE SHEARERRRR!!!!”
Senior Jessie Shearer is often found sweating her stress away. This can be by lifting some weights, rock climbing, snowboarding, or going out of town to race dirt bikes, but recently, She has found comfort in punching away in the ring.
Jessie has grown up with a motivation to stay active at all times. Her parents are both passionate about keeping your body moving.
At the young stages of her life, Jessie joined cheer and started tumbling her heart out. Cheer was a big definer in Jessie’s life, as it stayed for so long. And it also helped her in her other activities.
She would spend over half of her week practicing for competitions and making sure she had perfected the moves she had to do.
“Cheer was a nice base for me. It really gave me endurance to keep going. I also appreciated how quick and light I had to be with my feet… Boxing is not the same as cheer in any way, but I often find myself applying tips from cheer into the ring,” she explained.
It only took Jessie to be 7 years old to start striking some good defenses. When she was young,
Shearer’s father put her into taekwondo, karate, and jujitsu. Here, she learned she had a fiery desire in her body to keep pushing herself.
It wasn’t until junior year that she truly understood what sport belonged to her. Last year, Jessie’s father took action and placed Jessie and her brother in a session of self defense. Jessie viewed this class as a potential hobby to try out and immediately requested she could try boxing. She and her brother have been participating in lessons at Marin Boxing Academy for the last 8 months.
Next October, you can find Jessie in the ring with an opponent. To fill the time between now and then, alongside training for it, she will start doing sparring matches to test out her skills.
“I enjoy having something as a physical challenge that can balance out my mental challenges. It gives me motivation to do so much. Catch me working out on a day I am stressed because it helps me unwind,” she said.
Jessie also loves to give tastes of her passions to her friends and peers. Graci Saul, also a senior, recently joined Shearer in a boxing class and understood why Jessie succeeds by being active.
Saul said, “It made me feel very good afterwards, despite it being so difficult.”
Saul was thankful for the opportunity Jessie prompted. And she prompts many others too. A few months ago, she influenced Emily Daniell and another friend to join her in a cross fit class. She feels happy to have friends who want to participate in her hobbies.
Shearer cherishes having a full agenda. She holds so many important roles in the arena, in another sport, and even at school.
Jessie made it very clear that despite loving her active lifestyle, nothing will ever change the priority of her academics.
She is a HOSA and NTHS senior class representative and Key Club vice president. She also makes sure she meets with Señora Luaces weekly to brush up on her Spanish. To continue, she always aims for a 4.0 and will try her very hardest in achieving it. Jessie is an avid learner who takes pride in her strong skill set regarding her scholastic qualifications.
Despite having to juggle the stressors at school, Jessie still finds the time to accelerate her heart rate a little.
Boxing helps Shearer in many ways besides just “sweating out the stress”.
It also benefits her as a future health professional. She has the dream of becoming a trauma surgeon. She thrives off adrenaline, which this career very much provides.
“The idea of being a trauma surgeon is so secure because I love the thrill. The sports I have done hold fast reaction time, which I have mastered, and I feel confident that high stress environments will be where I belong”, Shearer passionately spoke.
There would be no shock if Shearer removed her gloves after finishing a stressful surgery, just to replace them with boxing ones later that day. The sweat Jessie Shearer has after a long workout only represents her hard efforts and big passions she has for leading a healthy and happy life.