Frida Esparza mostly wears black and gray.

She loves Metallica.

And when the graduate student was a sophomore, she rocked pink hair in the fall before swapping it out for a bright, pastel blue dye job in the spring.

Beyond how she dresses or what she listens to, Esparza is proudly Mexican. The two-time World Championships competitor joined UCLA gymnastics in 2021 after a two-year stint with the Mexican national team – but she wasn’t always her authentic, true self.

“When I was younger, I was definitely trying to fit in more,” Esparza said. “I was trying to be the typical girl – the ‘American girl.’”

Growing up in Pittsburg, California, Esparza started gymnastics at just two years old. Although she immediately fell in love with the sport, maintaining her connection to it has not always been easy.

Gymnastics in the United States is predominantly white, as evidenced by 60% of USA Gymnastics members in 2024. Esparza, however, is part of the 5.15% that identify as Hispanic.

“When I was younger, I definitely had a bit more of an accent, but I thought that was just how ‘we’ talked,” Esparza said. “I got made fun of for how I would pronounce certain words, and that stuck with me.”

Esparza attended U.S. national training camps as a junior elite but did not find comfort in their style of leadership. The environment caused stress, and Esparza almost left the sport entirely.

However, Esparza’s coach, Katreece Stone, found a way to keep her from hanging it up.

Stone sent an email to Mexico’s national team behind Esparza’s back to see if they had room for the U.S.-Mexico dual citizen. They did.

Esparza placed 11th in the 2017 U.S. Classic all-around – higher than future Olympic gold medalist Jade Carey – but disaster struck twice just one month later at the 2017 U.S. national championships.

She struggled throughout the two-day meet – falling on bars both days and recording her lowest vault scores of the year.

But her coach surprised her after the rough competition with the news that she could compete for the Mexican National Team.

“It was just so different. I was surrounded by people who had the same cultural values, and we understood each other,” Esparza said. “It was also really nice to get to represent my family and my heritage on the international stage.”

In 2018, Esparza added Mexican National All-Around Champion to her repertoire. She competed at her first world championships in Doha, Qatar, that same year and represented Mexico at the same event in 2019.

“It was a dream come true,” Esparza said. “I was sitting there after the competition, and I was like, ‘I was just part of something bigger than myself.’ I was doing it not only for myself, my country, but all the hard work that my parents put in so that I could have this opportunity.”

Esparza finished top 35 in the qualifying round of the 2018 world championships.

But in April of that year, something felt wrong in Esparza’s foot. An MRI scan determined that she needed surgery, which would eliminate her from October’s world championships.

She tried to push through the pain, but the number of events she could tolerate was reduced one by one. First, her foot kept popping on floor. Then, running caused too much pain on vault. And at a training camp, Esparza couldn’t put any weight on her foot after a beam dismount.

Despite a clean second MRI, her pain demanded that doctors schedule surgery. But then a Mexican national team physician drove Esparza’s mother out of the room and told the gymnast she would be competing as a traveling alternate.

Soon, Esparza was in the starting lineup – competing on bars with a broken foot.

Esparza did eventually get surgery, but she struggled to get back to her pre-injury capabilities.

Meanwhile, she had a spot waiting for her at UCLA.

“I was like, ‘I’m gonna quit,'” Esparza said. “I’ll call Chris (former UCLA gymnastics coach Chris Waller). I’ll tell him if I can medically retire before I get there, or I can be a manager.”

But her mom convinced her otherwise. First, Esparza would stick with gymnastics for one more week. Then a week turned into a quarter. Then a season.

And five years later, Esparza is a mainstay in the Bruins’ bar lineup – currently sitting at the No. 3 national bars ranking – and was named the Big Ten co-specialist of the week Tuesday.

And as Esparza continued to improve on the competition floor, she also continued to become the most authentic version of herself.

“She’s got a loud personality to her. You’ll hear her screaming from across the gym, and it’s usually something silly that just lightens the mood and makes everybody laugh,” McDonald said. “She has this really cool balance of fun and also hard work ethic that everybody can be inspired by.”

Since her sophomore spunk, Esparza has landed back at her natural color – but spices it up with bangs.

And inspired by her dad’s love of Metallica and rock music, Esparza acquired a bass guitar in December, which joined the electric guitar already in her collection.

The electric guitar became more than just a hobby Friday, when Esparza played the national anthem at UCLA’s annual Pride Meet – something Esparza said “freshman Frida” never would’ve done.

And as Esparza continues her journey of self-discovery, she is inspiring a generation of young Fridas who will carve an impact bigger than any perfect 10.

“Coming back to the United States and going to competitions and supporting my teammates, I’ve had little girls come up to me and be like, ‘It’s really amazing to see someone competing that looks like me,'” Esparza said. “My story makes them feel like they made the right decision.”