At the young age of 7, Senior Jamie Saffran began baton twirling at a local dance studio, anticipating it to just be a fun and recreational activity; now she is a top competitor in state and is 100% committed. Her career and future all began with a simple piece of paper. In her elementary school she got a flyer inviting her to join the dance and baton twirling team. At 7 she was all about dance and didn’t think twice about twirling. So, she attended the first practice and couldn’t stop twirling. Since then she has been solely devoted to it. “I was strictly about dance and then I joined and just got hooked,” senior Jamie Saffran said. Her first practice wasn’t just the beginning of her career, but also the beginning of a good friendship with her coach, Jenny Jernigan. “Our relationship goes beyond the coach/student relationship,” Jernigan said, “We have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel together on our own and with the team.” Now, she is the most committed twirler, but that wasn’t the case when she first started. “When I first began twirling I would never practice, I saw it just as something fun to do,” Saffran said. This all changed when she attended her first major practice with all the twirlers in her studio. “I saw all the older girls that had been doing it for a long time and saw how good they were and I wanted to be like them,” Saffran said. With her mind set to being like the more experienced, hard working, older girls Saffran started taking practices and twirling more seriously. She began to look at twirling as something competitive and fun instead of just a recreational time consumer. Now, Saffran is an inspiration and role model to the new younger twirlers. “She has given younger twirlers that drive that they too can be as good as she is,” Jernigan said. Although Saffran has been twirling for practically her whole life, she has definitely set herself above other twirlers. She uses all of her effort at practices and does better than her best at competitions. To improve herself in twirling she took both ballet
and dance classes to increase her flexibility, which is crucial for all twirlers. Because of her extra effort and persistence she is one of the best baton twirlers in her studio, and in state. “It is really important to be flexible and I have worked really hard to get to where I am. The classes I take definitely help me a lot,” Saffran said. Not only is Saffran an amazing baton twirler individually, but she also excels in group twirling. “Twirling is a lot like ice skating, there are individual competitions as well as team competitions,” Saffran said. Most twirlers focus on themselves and their individual acceleration, but Saffran enjoys both the individual and team competitions. “They’re both very different and I get equally nervous for them. If you mess up in the individual competitions the blame is all on you. If you mess up in team competitions you not only make yourself look bad, but your team and friends too,” Saffran said. She spends 2-3 hours each day perfecting her individual routines and workouts, trying to better herself separately from her team. She even flies out of state to practice with a few of her coaches. Every once in a while her team will have major 10 hour practices. Her hard work definitely shines through when she competes and wins awards. She trains hard all year and competes throughout January and April. Saffran has won several highly recognized and coveted awards. “I’ve won numerous state and regional titles, three national titles, and I have qualified in the world championship,” Saffran said. Her most cherished award was won when she was only 16. Saffran spent months, possibly her whole baton twirling life, preparing herself for this competition. She trained every spare moment, going through her routines over and over and over again. She gave 110% effort at her tough practices and never gave up. Filled with determination and anticipation she started her routine. Family, friends, and fans filled the stands as she performed in the national championship. Applause
consumed the air as she finished her routine. She ended up finishing in 1st place out of every 13-16 year old in the entire nation. “In 2006 I won a national championship and I worked really hard and so I’m really proud of it,” Saffran said. “Besides winning numerous state, regional and national team events, Saffran’s major accomplishments have been winning Miss Majorette of Florida and Miss Majorette of America,” Jernigan said. Even after her “season” is over she still has to practice extra for nationals which occur in July every two years, so slacking off definitely isn’t an option or thought for Saffran. Saffran has to keep practicing nonstop so that she can achieve her goal of getting a scholarship to a good college. Saffran plans to continue twirling through her college career with a full scholarship to the University of Hawaii and hopefully will leave her legacy behind. “Maybe I’ll open up my own dance studio one day,” Saffran said. Her coach, Jernigan is very hopeful and has no doubt in her mind that Saffran won’t be attending UH next year; her main concern is for Saffran to be happy with whatever she chooses to do. “I look forward to what the future holds for her as I know she will exceed in whatever she will choose,” Jernigan said. With determination and a good attitude Saffran will set out to live her life doing what she loves and does best: twirling.