Left handed and the captain of the varsity soccer team, are just some aspects that begin to explain Joliet west High School’s infamous Jesus Flores. Born in his hometown Cicero, Illinois, July 10^th 1996, Flores has been active since the moment his feet his the floor, from dancing since he was 5 to tirelessly giving his all in soccer, to maintaining and riding the horses he has, there are no dull moments with Jesus.

“I’ve always enjoyed dance,” says Jesus, “It’s something that’s always been fun for me and comes naturally. I started when I was about five years old, but I took some ballet classes for three years to gain more experience.”

Jesus elaborates on the different variations of dance he does. “I did join Latin Heritage club a couple years back, we danced some bachata and tango, which are some traditional Mexican dances. When we were in Latin Heritage, we would go around and compete with other dancing couples or just perform in front of other people. Just being around people who had the same love for dance I had just made me realize dance is something I really like.”

Jesus goes on to explain his passion for soccer. “Soccer is also something I really take pride in, I started when I was in 7th grade and I just kept going with it. Even though this year I really didn’t want to do soccer, I tried out anyways because it is my senior year of high school and I wanted to make sure I did soccer all four years. And I even made it as team captain, so all my hard work in this sport has surely paid off.”

As Jesus is nearing the end of his high school career, he speaks about his plans for the future. “I’m planning on attending a college in Missouri for mechanical engineering. Like most guys, I’ve always been really into cars, whether it was fixing them up, just tinkering with their parts, or learning about the new characteristics of the newest car. So I decided that going to college to professionally do something I really like is a goal I really want to achieve. So right now I am really excited for college, the only part I’m worrying about is just being away from my family.”

Jesus has many big plans for his future and is very determined to achieve them. “My father has always been a big inspiration in my life and one of my goals is to succeed like him. He once told me ‘Ir tan lejos en la via como puedas’ meaning ‘ go as far as you can’ and that’s exactly what I’m planning on doing. No one hands you anything in life, it’s your job to go out and become who you want to be, and because of these inspiring words by my father, this is the reason to go as far as I can.”