Everyone makes a difference to people in their lives, but for nine Armijo students, they will be celebrating on National Make a Difference Day, October 23. This event happens on the fourth Sunday of October, so celebrating their birthday on this special day is a rare occurrence.

“I actually didn’t know my birthday was on National Make a Difference Day. I think that’s pretty cool,” said Marceliana Espiritu, one of the celebrants.

Jonathan Tellez-Ruiz said, “I like having my birthday on National Make a Difference Day because we could try to make a difference on that today.”

“I am trying my best to make small differences, but moving forward I will try my best to make as many differences as I can,” said Espiritu.

Julian Saeteurn will also celebrate this year, but he wishes he was older already so he could have a job and buy things on his birthday.

This day is special for so many reasons. “October 23 is the cusp of Libra and Scorpio,” said Tellez-Ruiz. In Espiritu’s family, though, it isn’t the only special date. “My mom is actually born on December 7, which I learned is the bombing of Pearl Harbor,” she said.

The students who share this birthday share other things as well. The three who responded all have siblings who attend or have attended Armijo. For Saeteurn, that’s his brothers Dexter, who graduated, and Gabriel, who is currently a junior. Both Espiritu’s brother and sister also graduated from Armijo, Darien and Evette Espiritu. Tellez-Ruiz has the most connections to the campus, being related to Jennifer and Esmeralda Tellez Martinez, David and Cesar Tellez Morales, and April Tellez Tamayo.

Both Tellez-Ruiz and Saeteurn see college in their future, but Espiritu is choosing another path. “College kind of sounds like extra time wasted for me because I’d just love to jump in and start my career,” she said. She does, however, intend to pursue a career in the medical field and will further her education in a more focused fashion.

On the other hand, she and Tellez-Ruiz are both involved in activities on campus and beyond. Espiritu is a member of two clubs and plans to try-out for the basketball team. Tellez-Ruiz enjoys soccer, golf and volleyball.

These students, as well as Orlando Castillo Murillo, Josiah Gonzalez, Jules Mandanas, Gioni McFadden, Jose Luis Parra, and Quishaun Turner, will be making a difference on October 23 by celebrating both their own birthday and Make a Difference Day. What will you do to recognize this National event? You can find some ideas here: https://the-armijo-signal.com/?p=26028

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Quishaun Turner