‘I made strong friendships with people who I never thought I would’

The summer before my freshman year, I ran on the sidewalks during cross country practices and talked to my teammates, making my first connections in high school.   

Although this was a good experience, making friendships and trying to keep up with my work was challenging for me in my first two years of high school because I had so much on my plate. I played softball and cross country at the same time at Birmingham Community Charter High School (BCCHS) and sports outside of school. I also still managed to keep my grades up. 

I was doing sports basically seven days a week. This taught me how to be more aware with my time when it comes to school because school has helped me to get me where I’m at right now. 

In 2020, the pandemic hit and ruined my sophomore year and I lost contact with a lot of my friends. When my sophomore year ended I was hoping to go back to campus for my junior year until the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) announced that school will be held virtually. 

I decided to stop playing sports for BCCHS in my junior year. My junior year was virtual and I struggled a lot with my class work. I was doing softball outside of school to the point where softball was my first priority instead of school. I stopped playing sports in June 2021 because I realized that my grades weren’t really good and I barely passed all of my classes. I decided that it would be the best choice if I stop playing sports for good so I can focus on all of my school work and being able to go to a university. 

My senior year was around the corner and I was hoping to enjoy  it on campus when I finally heard on the news that LAUSD schools would open for in-person learning. I was so excited and able to reconnect with the people I haven’t talked to in two years.  

The first month of school being on campus was super different from the previous years because I got used to being at home all the time, so it took time to get used to being back on campus. 

My biggest accomplishment during my high school years is that I joined The Pearl Post and Prestige Yearbook in my junior year. Ever since I joined, I learned a lot about how to communicate and got better with my writing skills in just two years. I also learned how to take sports photos in different camera settings. I made strong friendships with people who I never thought I would.

Being a student at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School (DPMHS) meant a lot to me because I wanted to attend since I was 10 years old and one of my ninas (godmother) graduated here. I love all the teachers I had throughout my four years because they helped me get to where I’m at today. Now I’m excited to graduate from high school and will be going to my dream college, which is California State University, Northridge (CSUN), where I will be studying journalism