THE UNI V ERSIT Y OF TE X A S AT EL PA S O
AS SAY ER OF STUDENT OPINION
March 3, 2026
VOL. 111, NO. 6
THEPROSPECTORDAILY.COM
OPINION Page 1
NEWS Page 3
ARTS & CULTURE Page 11
SPORTS Page 13
Jarvis, to be cringe is to be free
Reshaping the field: Women in engineering
‘Slow Emergences,’ an honor to culture and transformation
Black excellence, borderland pride and the UTEP legacy
FIGURE SKATING CARVED WITH PASSION B IZIAH MORENO Y PHOTO EDITOR • THE PROSPECTOR
The ice is a stage and University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) sophomore, Isabella Brito, has swept across it with pure passion. Ever since she first stepped onto the rink in January 2021, Brito has committed herself to figure skating, finding an icy love in a fiery city. What started as a new interest has turned into a five-year adventure that has taken her across the country. She began skating at 15, after doing 12 years of dance. The early discipline from being a dancer since the age of three carried over into figure skating. She poured her heart into every practice, and in just five years, she reached platinum, which is the highest level at her facility. “I was in shock that she started in January [2021], and the coaches were already speaking about competing,” Brito’s mother, Marina Gutierrez
said. “I would tell Isabella, ‘you just started skating, you need to learn how to skate first.’ Her very first performance was in her fourth month, and she got all gold.” Brito’s interest in figure skating wasn’t immediate. As a child, she had a figure-skating-themed toy from a fast-food meal and remembers telling her mom about how much better she thought dance was compared to skating. After seeing “Ice Princess” a Disney movie about a teenager who becomes a champion
With her beginnings starting in ballet to a full transition into figure skating, UTEP Sophomore, Isabella Brito, practiced and honed in her skills, reaching a platinum level status in just five years. Photo by Nate Flores / The Prospector
figure skater, Brito grew curious. “That [Ice Princess] sparked my interest, so I told my mom if she could find any facilities around here for figure skating, and we found out there was one... and she took me,” Brito said. “Obviously at first, I was super bad at it, but ever since that day, I fell in love with it.
and Tacoma, Wash. With every competition, Brito has left with at least one gold medal, proving that she brings a competitive spirit that stands out in her performances. “It’s just awesome to see her do what she loves and actually goes to compete. She’s very competitive, she goes in there and starts doing her thing,” Gutierrez said. “One of her instructors, who was coaching her with ribbon, rhythmic and gymnastics, was actually crying. He got extremely emotional because Isabella was doing excellent on that [California] performance, and with all the training that it took, he was just crying from joy.” As her success in the sport grew, Brito realized that figure skating I demands mental strength, rather thought it than just physical strength. was a new form “A lot of people perceive figure of expression skating as something easy, when rather than in reality, it’s not,” Brito said. dance.” “It’s such a mental battle with Her first yourself. Its not even a ‘Can you competition do it physically?’ because most win was only people can. It’s the mental part the beginning. that makes everyone drift away She has travelled from it.” to compete in places For Brito, the mental battle is a such as Dallas, Chicago, part of what fueled her growth. Alaska, Boston, California Progress did not come without
frustration and long practice hours of repetition of routines, but no matter what, she pushes through. “She falls, gets up, continues with the program,” Gutierrez said. “She never gives up.” Through 12 years of practicing different forms of dance, primarily tap, pointe and ballet, Brito had a foundation of discipline to glide upon. With dance, she became a natural performer, loving to put on a show and to entertain people. “Seeing her medals and her performances, it’s just so awesome,” Gutierrez said. “Since the very beginning, when I saw that she really was getting into the sport, I knew that she was going to be doing bigger competitions.” Rather than replacing dance, performing on ice has become an extension of her craft, leading Brito to explore a new realm of performance that is different from her roots of dance. “It’s more of an artistic thing for me. It’s something to express your emotions, to your body. Sometimes when I’m performing, I’m not really thinking about the technical stuff, ” Brito said. It’s more artistic because I’m able to put my heart out there for other people to kind of see and visualize what I’m thinking or what I’m feeling.” read MORE at theprospectordaily.com