Jacqulyn
Rookie
It takes some people years to find their passion in life, but that was not the case for Raiderette Jacqulyn T.
She knew from a very young age that she wanted to dance. Jacqulyn started dancing at age two, and when she was five, her mother built a dance studio in their garage to teach the neighborhood kids. After years of hard work, her mother purchased a 4,000 square foot studio that had over 400 students and Jacqulyn fell in love with teaching.
Inspired by her passion, she started her own dance company at the age of 19, and at 21, she was able to buy the studio from her mother. Several years later, she traveled abroad to continue teaching dance.
"I found someone to lease the building from me so I could travel and teach and see some different aspects of the industry," Jacqulyn said. "I traveled to Europe and taught throughout. I was in Europe for 17 days and it was a lot of fun."
During her travels, Jacqulyn realized her heart belonged to the Bay Area and when she moved back to Northern California permanently, she decided to pursue another dream of hers- to become a Raiderette.
Entering her first season as one of Football's Fabulous Females, Jacqulyn described her first game day experience at O.co Coliseum as "surreal."
"From start to finish it went by in the blink of an eye," she said. "I have to say the most intimate moment was the first time we walked on the field to practice when nobody was in the stadium. I expected it to be huge, but when I walked out on the field it was actually really intimate and close. It was a crazy energy even though nobody was there so I thought that was really amazing."
Becoming a 2014 Raiderette provides Jacqulyn the opportunity to dance at the highest level on the biggest stage in sports. She's hoping to use that stage to better those around her. "I've been an instructor for over 10 years, and my entire platform has been to provide my students something to continue to reach for," she said. "To be able to be a part of this squad and to be able to be a part of this organization, I feel it opens up so many doors for me to give back to my students. Just to even show that you can go for things, even though they're big, to believe in yourself and trust in your craft, and to go for it."
