Esther Rodriguez, Parents & Teachers Section Editor
Entering her second year as a writer for
The Downey Legend, senior Esther Rodriguez has high hopes. As a sophomore, she heard about joining Newspaper during the morning announcements and her English teacher, Mr. Kraus, encouraged her to fill out an application and display her knack for writing. This inspired her to apply and see if she could make it, which she did. Rodriguez joined in hopes of improving her writing skills, becoming less shy, and learning to write in more detail. To her, the best part about being on the newspaper staff is finding out about interesting, random things going on around the school. “There are things you would not know just coming to school, but being in Newspaper you learn things that aren’t common knowledge,” Rodriguez said. “We are the eyes and ears of the school.”
In her down time, Rodriguez enjoys reading young adult literature, writing fictional stories, and spending quality time with her cell phone on websites like YouTube, Tumblr, and Twitter. Besides being in Newspaper at school, she is also a new tutor at Downey High’s Writing Center. Writing as much as possible is important to her because she dreams of one day being an author. Along with chasing her aspirations of writing for a living, after she finishes high school, Rodriguez also looks forward to attending a university such as UCLA, San Diego State, or UC San Diego and obtaining a degree in English. Next summer, she will also be going on a missionary trip with church to Japan. Although her head is full of thoughts about the surreal future, for now Rodriguez is focusing on her schoolwork and activities and soaking up her last year as a high schooler.
, Photographer
Senior Marlenn Orozco, also known as MJ, is a three-year veteran at
The Downey Legend as a photographer. Her passion for photography has heightened thought the years, and she works hard to have her work recognized. As a freshman, Orozco hoped to join the Yearbook Staff, but at the end of the year, she was put on hold and instead signed up for photojournalism. However, the following year she was given another chance to show her work in a new environment that later became
The Downey Legend. At the end of the year she was given an award as Photographer of the year. In her junior year, Orozco was given her first Nikon and decided to take a photography class to understand how to work a camera. Entering her senior year, she enrolled in Advanced Photography at school. “I am so excited to be in the class, I feel like I am walking on the right path to my goal,” Orozco says. Even though she spends a large amount of time taking pictures and researching how to improve her skill, she enjoys drawing, reading, running and riding her bike around Downey in her spare time. Although Orozco was injured during a soccer game in 09’ she now tries to keep active by trying out for school sports.
