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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Melissa Gonzalez
Student Ups Her Academic Game
By Emilee Mae for The Weekly Sun
Melissa Gonzalez, a rising junior at Wood River High School, is on the cheerleading team and involved in several clubs, including Nosotros United, Business Professionals of America, and Idaho Drug-Free Youth. She currently has a 3.8 grade point average and speaks three languages, including English, Spanish and French.
Gonzalez attributes her success in school and extracurricular activities to her parents, who came from Mexico
“My parents came here just to give my sister and me a better life,” said Gonzalez. “And they haven’t stopped working really hard for us. It makes me want to do better.”
This past year, however, Gonzalez noticed a shift in her motivation for excelling in and out of school.
“I used to do all of these things for my parents, but this year I realized that I was doing it for myself and to give myself a better life.”
Gonzalez, who is a resident of Ketchum, will begin her first job this summer by selling raffle tickets to win a Ford Raptor pickup truck in support of The Drug Coalition, a nonprofit in Hailey. She will also attend many cheerleading practices and prepare for a fellowship program that’s new to the Wood River Valley. Organized by the Idaho Institute for Organization and Action, the program was only offered in Boise. This year, 11 youth from Blaine County expressed interested in the program, and they will run it locally this summer.
In the fall, Gonzalez plans to continue with the clubs she was involved in during her sophomore year, including Nosotros United, of which she will become co-vice-president. She also looks forward to snowboarding in the winter, which she started two years ago with the Sun Valley FreeRide Team.
“My freshman year I didn’t join many clubs and I just did what my friends wanted to do,” Gonzalez said. “Now I am much more independent and don’t care if other people go or not.”
Her sophomore year, Gonzalez qualified for state with BPA in two events: Team Management and Integrated Office Applications. For her events, she worked with Microsoft Office to create an Excel spreadsheet, a poster using Word and a PowerPoint presentation.
“It was a nice experience because I don’t know what I want to do in the future, but I do like working with computers,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez was very proud that her GPA improved by three points since this past year. She finished Honors Algebra II one year ahead of her class and completed AP Spanish and French V.
“I used to hate math because I thought I was bad at it, but now I realize that I can do it,” Gonzalez said.
While she isn’t sure what she wants to do in the future, Gonzalez is quickly discovering she has great interest in linguistics, connecting people and growing in confidence.
Each week, JoEllen Collins will be profiling a local high-school student. If you know someone you'd like to see featured, e-mail joellencollins1@gmail.com.