PUEBLO — A senior at CSU Pueblo is proving that an old Thunderwolf can indeed learn new tricks.
Jace Trujillo, after playing softball for the past four years, recently took up javelin throwing as a new athletic challenge.
"Understanding and coming to javelin gave me a chance to fail at something new. It's okay to be bad at it, and understand that you can just do this. At the end of the day, you really can," Trujillo said.
The transition came after years of defining herself primarily through softball.
"I had done softball my entire life, and that was the story I was told. This was your identity," she explained.
However, Trujillo's identity extends far beyond athletics. She's enrolled in a three-plus-two program at CSU Pueblo, which will allow her to graduate with both a bachelor's and a master's degree in business marketing.
She's already putting her business education to practical use.
A few months ago, Trujillo made a significant investment by purchasing Hopscotch Bakery, a beloved establishment in the Pueblo community.
"About three or four months ago, I was scrolling through Facebook and saw that a listing had been posted, and I was like, 'oh my gosh.' I was like, 'how do I actually buy this' and it was like $35,000 for sale or whatever the price was at the time, these thousands of dollars. I was like, yeah I'm going to figure out how to do this," she recalled.
The investment has helped revive the local favorite, maintaining its traditional offerings.
"Everything is the same. We brought back all the old recipes, and it's kind of been a business venture from there. It's been a journey," Trujillo said.
With her education and growing business experience, Trujillo has ambitious plans for Pueblo's business landscape.
"I would like to continue to buy mom and pop shops and start learning how to flip them and learn how to franchise. Learning how to develop in that entrepreneur sense," she explained.
As if juggling academics and business ownership weren't enough, Trujillo is also training for an MMA fight.
While she says fighting has always been in her blood, a traumatic experience during her freshman year motivated her to pursue it more seriously.
"For the last three years, or I guess three years afterward, I was battling a lot of things with that. Trying to figure out my independence again, trying to figure out who I am and can I protect myself. It was a really scary thought to think that I went through something so traumatic and I didn't have a light and I literally lost my power," Trujillo shared.
Through all her endeavors, Trujillo hopes her story of ambition and resilience will inspire others who are facing their own challenges.
"Just because it's not common doesn't mean it's not real, and it can't happen for you. I wake up and do the same things and make the same mistakes everybody else does. There's no reason you can't do it too," she said.
On top of everything else Trujillo has going on in her life, she is also on track to receive her pilot’s license.
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