AC: How is your day today?

PA: Good, it’s hot today haha.

AC: So I understand that you are very busy with school activities and sports. If you could give advice to a younger girl or boy, what advice would you give them so that they would be able to keep up?

PA: Knowing your limit. Right now I do two sports that are in fall, and luckily the hours are different. I have water polo in the afternoon and right after that I have football, so they can coexist almost. I also have morning practice sometimes and a lot of the times I’ll miss those because I get home late around 9 or 10 tired from football. Last year,I had CSU Chem, but that was also mentally challenging because it was a lot of stress, and, honestly, if you ever need to drop out of something that’s fine too.

AC: What motivates you into being able to keep up with that on top of your busy schedule?

PA: I say probably trying to do better. I started my freshman year right after Covid and I did a lot of procrastinating because I thought we were going back online. I didn’t really care about in-person, but now I just think if i’m tired i’ve already been doing this for 2 years why not finish it up. It’s my senior year, I’m almost done.

AC: What do you feel is one of your greatest strengths?

PA: Probably mental toughness, like that discipline. 

AC: Do you ever feel overwhelmed at times when things pile up?

PA: Yeah, you can say that. I remember last year when I was still tweaking things out, I realized I wanted to do sports and AP; the homework would pile up. You just want to get home and sleep, but I would have to get home and do some homework for Government AP. I mean it’s not bad, it’s just something you have to deal with.

AC: What are your main goals in life and why are they so important?

PA: Right now, I say just to perform to the best of my abilities sports wise. Academically I’m not stressing because I only have 5 classes, since I have so little there’s no excuses basically.

AC: Why are those goals important to you?

PA: After high school I plan on going to the military and that’s going to be different. You know, I’m going to have to get used to it. I say it’s important because right now I want to finish my school year strong.

AC: What does being a student at Berdoo mean to you? 

PA: I’d say it would be like being labeled as something our school has a certain reputation. Every sport event they’re like ‘oh you go to Berdoo?’ and they’ll just ask if it’s ghetto. I know my little brother’s girlfriend goes to Cajon. She wanted to come here but her parents were like it’s ghetto there, even though I’ve heard the schools are the same. But, you know, adversity I guess.

AC: As ASB vice mayor, what are your current goals on making Berdoo a better campus?

PA:To be honest, I haven’t done too much in the past 3 years, but I have been class president and all I really did was be a voice. Now I’m vice mayor, but it’s really just a title. Do you know our mayor Anna?

AC: No

PA: Oh well, she does a lot for our school, like advocating it -she talks to the District. But for me, I’d say it’s just trying to get the word out as much as possible. We do a lot of events and it’s always like what does the kid want so it’s really just trying to be a voice as much as I can and connecting with us.

AC: What is the biggest challenge facing young people today in your opinion?

PA: I’d say it’s distractions or not having a goal in mind. I remember in my electives -you know how there’s multiple grades in there – so like all the age groups and you can see how different some kids are. They’re distracted on their phones or, I remember  in my English class specifically, I’d see a lot of kids and they would even forget there’s a teacher there. They just do their own thing and it almost makes you feel bad because they’re just trying to do their job.

AC:Who do you think are the worst role models for young people today, and why?

PA: I’d say as a whole online role models,  There’s no reason a celebrity should be your role model when your parents tried so hard to provide for you. I feel like a lot of people forget that.  It takes something to be taken from you to be able to respect and appreciate what you have.

AC: What would you like to do after high school?

PA: Well, I’m interested in the Air Force.

AC: Are you ready for all the discipline that comes with the Air Force?

PA: Yeah. I mean I’ve read a lot and I’ve talked to some recruiters and they said it’ll be fine. They really just said to enjoy high school and onto the next chapter after that.

AC: Why did you decide to compete in Mr. Cardinal? 

PA: I feel like it’s not just me but also all the other candidates. They just like to be apart of San Bernardino. It is their last year, and some of them haven’t done as much as me or participated as much as me, but I feel like Mr. and Miss Cardinal is a way to just get out there and, if you were to end up winning, you would have a title. Everyone ‘s always saying they want to give back to the community and I think with Mr. and Miss Cardinal, that title gives you a platform to do something with it and reach out.

AC:If you win, what impact will you try to make? 

PA: I just want to leave this school with some sort of impact to where like my siblings, my sister she’s 5, when or if she comes to Berdoo, she can be like ‘oh wow, this is the stuff my brother was saying’ or something like it was different and better.

AC: You want to be relevant…

PA: Mhm, not peak in high school, but leave a name for myself.

AC :If you could get one message out to the world, what would it be?

PA: One message would be to just take it slow.  The days are long but the years are short.