Last month, Stella achieved a goal that she's been working at since third grade; she earned her black belt in karate. "I feel in love with it right away and I chose to stick with it," says Stella. At sixteen, she is among the youngest black belts. Candidates for the adult-level black belt must be at least fourteen.
Though Stella has found success at tournaments, the lessons learned have spilled into her life beyond the dojo. "That's even helped me in my first job," says Stella. "The discipline, I think, is the main thing I've taken away."
But the journey isn't over. With several degrees of black belt, Stella has plenty still to achieve. "It should take another two years of training," says Stella of achieving second degree black belt status. And it's a drive that she wants to share. "I want to infuse my passion of karate into the next generation of black belts."
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