Valeria Gonzalez came to Armijo her sophomore year and is now a senior.  Although she’s only spent two years on campus and one year in distance learning, she hasn’t been idle. “I’ve been involved in so many clubs like Skate for Change, College and Career Club, French Club and Garden Club,” she said. She’s this year’s Associated Student Body (ASB) Vice president and was also part of Armijo’s garden creation. Gonzalez loved getting involved in any kind of activity or clubs and would always be in that school spirit.

“What I feel I’m going to miss the most is spending time in AG-5 [Leadership classroom] after school, either organizing events for our school or just hanging out with my friends,” said  Gonzalez.

Although this is her last year in high school and COVID had a huge impact on her senior year, she still has hope that everything will get better and she will be able to experience the senior year. “What I thought was going to be one of the best years of my life is simply not happening right now,” she said, “but I still hope that things will get better. I don’t want to give up just yet!”

Despite the disappointment of her final year, Gonzalez has already created several treasured memories at Armijo. “One of my best memories was Homecoming Week in 2019. We had so much fun going to the football games and finding out winners of the HoCo court!” she said.

At home, Gonzalez is the middle of three girls. Her older sister is 25-years old and her younger sister, a 15-year old, is a junior at Armijo. “My sisters, along with my parents, are my role models,” she said. “They all are great and caring people who take challenges and advantage of opportunities to grow and be better every day!”