SAN ANTONIO – Meet Instant Replay’s newest Scholar Athlete of the Week: Jason Eslora-Castillo of Southwest High School.
Jason has been on the varsity football team at Southwest High School as a center for the last two and a half years. Jason is the Theatre Club President and has received a National Hispanic Recognition Award and a National First Generation Award. He also performs community service with Somos Culturas Y Mas in partnership with Centro SA and UTSA. He maintains a 3.5 GPA and is ranked seventeenth at CAST STEM. Jason plans to attend UTSA and become an Electrical Engineer.
WHAT MEMORIES DO YOU TAKE AWAY WITH YOU AS YOU LEAVE HIGH SCHOOL?
“One of the coolest things I’ve done at school is going to an H-E-B camp and it was a lot of fun. We got to stay out there for a few days and nights. We chilled and made s’mores and kayaked and it was a lot of fun.”
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR YOUR FELLOW STUDENTS ON HOW TO BALANCE ACADEMICS AND ATHLETICS?
“It takes a lot of dedication. Right now I’m taking Calculus and college level Physics. I have to stay up late and wake up early because of practice and my homework. It’s very time consuming and very tiring but you just have to do what you need to do and try to get through it.”
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AFTER YOU GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL?
“I plan to go to UTSA and become an Electrical Engineer. I really like to draw out the schematics and I just think finding out how electricity works and how it flows is really interesting. My uncle is an engineer and he really inspired me to get into the engineering field.”
WHAT MESSAGE DO YOU HAVE FOR YOUR PARENTS OR TEACHERS OR COACHES?
“I would like to thank my mom, dad, my grandma, my tia’s - they’ve all been so supportive and great inspirations. I’m missing a few names but I’m so grateful for all of them. They haven’t missed a game since I was 3 of 4 years old. It’s been really awesome of them to have that kind of support. I also want to thank Coach Ronnie Molina, without him I wouldn’t even be playing at Southwest without his help and his belief in me.”
Daniel P. Villanueva has worked with KSAT 12 for over 21 years and is an award-winning producer. To submit story ideas, email dvillanueva@ksat.com
