After spending day in and day out dedicating your life to a single activity it seems unheard of to just let that go. Pierce College student Destiny Mangini did just that.

After committing her life to wrestling among other sports, Mangini decided that she wanted to focus on other opportunities.

As a high school student she decided to start wresting because of her father. “My dad was also a competitive wrestler in high school so it was almost a montage to him for me to do that as well. A special way for the two of us to stay connected,” Mangini said.

Beginning wrestling in her junior year at Spanaway Lake High School Mangini managed to make it to the state championships within the first year. Over the course of two years Mangini collected over fifteen medals.

“Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard to find alloy called guts,” Mangini said.

After placing at the state championship, Mangini received an offer to attend a four year university with a full scholarship. Mangini decided to waive the offer because there was no program that suited her future career goals offered at that university.

“I have bigger ambitions in life to obtain outside of wrestling,” Mangini said. “I couldn’t just chase wrestling full time and not achieve my educational goals.”

Mangini is finishing her prerequisites at Pierce College Fort Steilacoom Campus for the Veterinarian Technician program.

“Once you’ve wrestled everything else in life seems easier,” Mangini said. “Although college is something you really have to put your all into. I wouldn’t be able to do that if I was wrestling competitively still.”

Mangini’s love for animals and her desire to do what she can to help animals is best described with a saying from one of her favorite books, The Alchemist. ‘People say strange things. Sometimes it’s better to be with the sheep who don’t say anything.’

After leaving wrestling Mangini focus her free time on school. “When I was wresting competitively I worked out seven days a week, constantly remaining on a critical diet to stay in my weight class”, Mangini said. “Wrestling is a sport where you are always training, either it be physically or emotionally. Wrestling teaches self-control and pride.”

Mangini was taught that dedication  makes anything possible. “Practice makes you good, hard work makes you better, but dedication makes you the best,” Mangini said.