Growing up in Sacramento, Calif., rookie Raiderette Kara developed an early passion for language, Spanish in particular.
When her mother asked her why she enjoyed languages so much, her response was simple, "the more languages I speak, the more people I can talk to," said Kara.
Her passion for Spanish has taken her far in her life, from going on mission trips to Honduras while she in high school, to consulting for Mexico's World Hip Hop team.
While she has enjoyed all the opportunities she's been afforded because of her fluency in Spanish, her trips to Honduras hold a special place in her heart, particularly her second trip to Central America.
"The second trip I went on, they only had one translator and we had two construction sites, so I translated construction instructions in Spanish," Kara said. "Spanish has taken me a lot of places."
Kara loves the outdoor, and when she isn't jet setting around the globe, she can be found participating in any number of outdoor activities.
"I'm a total mountain girl," Kara said. "I was raised by rivers and mountains, so I like to go backpacking and rough it; no electricity, no cell phones, no car camping. Just get your water from the stream and boil it. That's my deal."
Her other hobbies include watching standup comedy – she's a huge Aziz Ansari fan, and naturally, dancing.
It was this passion that led her to audition for Football's Fabulous Females and eventually make the team – even if the wait to her number called felt like an eternity.
"It was absolutely incredible," Kara said when asked about her initial feelings after making the team. "I really didn't believe it. I've been working on this for a long time and to finally hit it, it was amazing."
The joy and excitement she felt was something she couldn't even explain, but she did say the full impact of the moment didn't hit her until several minutes after her number was called.
"I started going down the escalator at O.co and I just lost it," Kara explained. "I was in my own space and I was finally able to feel everything for the first time because you're just on an escalator riding down, and I lost it. [Veteran Raiderette] Brandi was the first one to hug me and she said, 'you're such a great dancer, I'm so glad you're my sister now," and now she's my line captain."
Hearing her number called fulfilled a dream for Kara, and now that the emotion has passed, she's determined to make the most of her opportunity with Football's Fabulous Females cheering on the Oakland Raiders on Sundays.
