Bonita Vista High is filled with different legacies from its different students it harbors. Christabel Lily Graton is one of them. A senior who attends BVH, who is not only an International Baccalaureate candidate, but a weightlifting competitor, making herself an outlier from many other Barons. After years of training, she found that she became passionate for the sport, enjoying the sentiment and adrenaline that came with weightlifting.
“There was a sense of empowerment that came with being able to lift really heavy weights,” Graton said. “Coming from being pretty small when I was younger, being able to lift heavy things and seeing the progress physically and my health improving, it made me feel like I had control over my future, over my health [and] over the things that I can do.”
For two years, she would work out for her own health. It was only by the end of her freshman year did she really start to think about lifting competitively. This was the beginning of her journey, as for the past three years, she started weightlifting competitively. This was not without its issues, however, especially when trying to start. She cited issues such as accessibility to lessons, the environment and most importantly, the representation of women.
“It was pretty hard to find a gym that wanted to teach Olympic weightlifting, [with] the gym that I go to now is 40 minutes away. I drive [there] everyday because I really like it,” Graton said. “But initially starting out, the challenge that I had was finding a gym, and there’s not a lot of female representation in weightlifting, so it is uncomfortable in a gym sometimes because I am the only girl.”
She had managed to overcome her need to find a proper CrossFit gym, and started training at West Coast Weightlifting in Santee, California. When starting at the gym and requesting training, she eventually received a deal from a coach who would teach her. His reason? He believed in Graton.
“His charge is pretty high, [so] I reached out to him and I [asked], ‘Hey, I have no way to pay for this. Would there be any way to give me a scholarship?’ And he said ‘If you show up, we need more female weightlifters, so if you show up every day, you try your hardest, I will give you a full scholarship,'” Graton said.
The scholarship is only part of the equation. While Graton does go every day to make the most of her training, the fact that there were so few female weightlifters had also become a major point of motivation for her, stating that she wanted to fill that void of female weightlifting role models.
“One of my [biggest] motivations is being a role model for other girls who do not have any weightlifting women to look up to, [I do not want others] feeling weak again like I did in middle school,” Graton said. “[Even though I want that influence], there are role models for other females like other girls my age.”
While she may have gotten the deal of a lifetime, which reduced her financial cost, it had come at a personal social cost. Since she had to show up every day as per her agreement with her coach, she has had to cut back on social time while making room for academics simultaneously. Even as Graton acknowledges these scheduling difficulties, she still struggles to find a balance between the two. However, English 9 and International Baccalaureate English HL 1 and 2 teacher Raymond Chhan asserted how Graton is willing to break the boundaries of learning and is always looking forward to learning something new.
“When a student is in a sport, there is a sense of discipline that they have—they are not afraid to fail. [Lily encapsulates this]. [She] is really active in class and is always willing to participate in discussions,” Chhan said. “Part of it is tied to her own sense of risk-taking and is not afraid of failure and making mistakes. It makes her a standout in class.”
Graton further acknowledges how her social life has changed due to her commitment to weightlifting. With balancing weightlifting and rigorous education simultaneously, she stated how the time she had with those she loves started shrinking.
“Before weightlifting, I had a wider set of friends, and I have really narrowed down,” Graton said. “It has made me choose who I think my time is worth. Let’s say I have an hour after school. What friends would I be willing to dedicate that to? It’s really shrunk down my friend groups basically.”
Even though Graton asserted that her time has been shrinking, longtime friend and senior, Giselle Vasquez, compliments Graton and how she has always been an inspiration to Vasquez. Vasquez adds that she will always be someone that is there for Graton, and is proud of her accomplishments she has made.
“Lily has always been an inspiration in my life. I have known her since [elementary school] and I have always seen Lily as someone who radiates love and determination. She impacted the way I view certain things and I will always be there for her so she can grow emotionally and physically,” Vasquez said. “Seeing her determined to make her friends feel loved or to make anyone feel loved has been so inspiring to see as we grew up. I am so overly proud of her.”
As Graton considers education as an important aspect of her life, she also has dedicated her time to making sure her grades do not fall off. However, since she considers her education to be so important, this means that she must also take time away from weightlifting to ensure she passes.
“When Nationals prep picks up, my grades take a dip sometimes, and I think that is just something that happens as a student athlete. Your grade sometimes gets affected and you have to work around that,” Graton said.
Even with the aforementioned scheduling difficulties to get to practice on time for five days, Graton recognizes the importance of her school grades. As college applications are looming with her eyes set on college, she is more than willing to sacrifice a few days to focus on major exams.
“In those cases, I cut out weightlifting and I take time to prioritize my academics because that is my future,” Graton said. “I will have to—at some points—choose my academics over weightlifting because weightlifting is not a collegiate sport, so it is not going to get me to college the same way that my grades will.”
Despite the fact that weightlifting can be an obstacle for Graton in some aspects, it has not only improved her well-being, but also focused her mind. Considering her background in why she began weightlifting in the first place, it made sense that she would pursue majors that dealt in health and related fields.
“There was a medical situation I was going through that weightlifting really saved me from,” Graton said. “[For college], I want to go into a nutrition and neuroscience route because I want to use weightlifting and health as a means to change people’s lives.”
As she is now, Graton is still a high school student and is grateful for being able to not only work on improving her health and inspire others, but to have the ability to even be capable of performing her deeds. She states that believing in yourself should make the most of what you are given, and incorporating her gratitude into her workouts as another reason to keep going.
“I like to use the phrase ‘For those who can’t’. It means there are so many people in the world who have no choice but to live the lives they are living and not pursue their passions, like in war-torn countries and people who were born without the ability to move,” Graton said. “And so before I would take a lift, every time I step into training, I say ‘for those who can’t’ because I am able to live out the dreams of those people who just were not able to live up to their aspirations.”
