Senior Jordan Willis was born in California and continuously moved throughout the state, living in San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Clemente.

Throughout those first few years in California, Willis made many memories, such as enjoying her favorite family meal, a pasta dish with asparagus, sausage, and peppers. Even though her family doesn’t eat this meal as often anymore, she still loves it.

Going into her fifth grade year, she made a big move from California to West Linn, starting her journey in Oregon.

Later, Willis attended Rosemont Ridge Middle School. With her parents’ encouragement, during middle school, Jordan tried multiple different sports, ranging from soccer to basketball. Of all the options, one sport came out on top: cheer, which Willis has stuck with ever since.

Willis is grateful to her parents for helping her try a variety of sports and said she’s satisfied with her decision of staying with cheer.

Despite some frustrating seasons, Willis explained that she was able to push through and stay true to her sport, learning versatility in the process.

“It helped a lot by learning to build strong relationships and connections, how to work as a team, how to build my self-confidence, [and] how to get stronger and healthier,” she said. “It also really helped me with teamwork and leadership, because I used to be extremely quiet.”

Willis is also appreciative of the positive effect cheer has had on her worth ethic.

“It really reiterated teamwork and having to do hard work, even though I didn’t want to do it, or I didn’t want to go,” she said.

One of Willis’ biggest accomplishments is winning the Division II Summit last year with her cheer team, the Oregon Dream Team Vanity. Summit is an invitation-only end-of-year competition for cheer teams around the world.

Growing up, a major role model for Willis was her older brother. She admires how well he was able to persevere through the challenges life has thrown at him.

“He’s worked though a lot,” she said. “He got into the Navy even though he was told he wasn’t going to be able to.” 

Willis’ decision to go to La Salle was made considering both her desire to continue practicing her faith and the vibe La Salle gives off with its relatively small size.

At La Salle, Willis has taken the guitar classes that the school offers throughout all four years of her high school career, starting out in the beginner class and working her way up through the advanced classes.

“I wanted to finish my senior year with guitar because I know how much I love it,” she said.

Not only has Willis enjoyed her guitar classes at La Salle, but she plans to continue her musical journey in college as a music major.

Additionally, inspired by her dad’s experience working as a financial advisor, Willis plans to minor in finance as a backup plan. Her father also owns his own business, Willis Wealth Management, where she sees herself potentially working down the line.

Looking to the immediate future, Willis looked at many schools, with San Diego State University coming out on top.