Bulldogs look forward to new challenge
Despite the excitement and the students’ eagerness to welcome a new day and move onto the next challenge that lies in their path, Calexico High School seniors reminisced about how their experiences shaped their lives.
Fabian Rubio Torres, one of the top seniors in the class, said the fact CHS is such a big school, there is a special kind of energy that radiates among all of his classmates. He said earlier in the day he wasn’t feeling much different as any other day, but once he stepped in the school gym with most of his classmates the energy among them got him excited
“I’m really excited to see my classmates and how happy they are, we finally made it to this point after four years. I’m really happy, excited and glad we all made it,” Torres said. “Every day when I came to school I would leave feeling great and energized.”
For Torres the next step is going to Imperial Valley College, he hopes within a couple of years he’ll be able to transfer to the University of California in Los Angeles or California State University in San Francisco to continue his education. He said that along with his classmates, what he’ll miss the most are his teachers who played a big role in his education.
Another one of the top students in the Class of 2017, Ashley Angulo said she’ll be attending UCLA in the fall where she will major in microbiology - her ultimate goal is to go to medical school and pursue a career in pathology.
“I’m very excited because I just finished four very fun years of my life and I feel ready to go to the next stage,” Angulo said. “I’m going to miss the sense of community that we have here at CHS.”
During the ceremony, Calexico Principal Gabrielle Williams Ballesteros congratulated the seniors on their special day and said she was proud of all of them for the difference and impressions they made during their last year and encouraged them to keep working hard to accomplish their goals.
“Today marks the end of a four-year journey but also the start of a new chapter in your life, a career and a journey,” she said. “I’m excited for all of you and the bright future that is just ahead of you.”
Another senior Fernanda Cardona said the graduation was a special moment for her because it was the final time that the entire class came together before they all head on their separate ways.
Though most of the seniors have education career paths to follow, others like Luis Mendoza are taking another route.
Mendoza recently joined the U.S. Marine Corps and will dedicate himself to serve in the armed forces, but he foresees that once he’s done with the military he’ll come back to the Valley to continue his education and pursue a career in law enforcement.
During her speech, Student Body President Victoria Aguilar told her classmates to be grateful for what they had at CHS, to be excited for what’s next and finally to remind them that “Once a Bulldog, always a Bulldog.”