Freshman Natalie Garcia is a varsity cheerleader who also loves dancing and cooking. Her friends often describe her as a fun and enthusiastic person to be around, but she still maintains balance in her life, keeping good grades and babysitting when she can.

Outside of school and cheerleading, Natalie spends a lot of time partying with family and friends. Her most recent big event was her Quinceanera. Natalie said, “Planning my quince was hard, but I overcame this challenge with the support of my friends and family and I’m glad I didn’t give up on it because it was really the most exciting and best night of my life.”

After high school, she plans to attend the University of Arizona and become a pediatrician. She has always had a knack for taking care of kids and has desired to work in the medical field since she was young. “I want to be a pediatrician because I would get to spend time with kids and babies while also taking care of their health,” Natalie shared.

Natalie previously attended Gridley Middle School, where she played on the soccer team and ran track and field. Even while participating in sports, she was on the honor roll all throughout middle school. She was very passionate about soccer up until her best friend Sophia, who is a cheerleader for Sabino, inspired her to try out for cheerleading. Natalie attended Sahuaro’s pre-season cheerleading camp and immediately fell in love with the idea of flying, dancing, and stunting. The older cheerleaders made her feel very welcome and encouraged her to try out for the team.

Because she had no cheer experience before trying out, Natalie said, “I was super nervous but I’m glad I gave it a shot, and now that I made the team, I want to be a cheerleader for all 4 years of high school.” Natalie shared that the most exciting part of cheerleading, “is getting to stunt with my friends…I never had experience with cheer, so another exciting moment was when I felt myself making progress when I hit my stunts at the pep rally. I was so relieved we didn’t mess up at all.” She is proud of her progress but hopes to improve on her stunting.

Although she enjoys cheer, she misses playing soccer. Next year, she plans to do both cheer and soccer. It may be difficult to keep both sports balanced, but Natalie Garcia can do anything she puts her mind to.