Venezia Perez (12) is a current Senior at Santiago High School, playing basketball for the girl’s varsity team. She enjoys late-night car rides and listening to music. After high school, she plans to graduate from college with a degree in communications. She began to gain more and more interest in writing when she figured out she could express herself and her thoughts through writing. Writing had become her favorite thing to do in school since then. Venezia has been playing basketball since she was six years old. Basketball was not her first sport, nor a sport many around her played. Her father played minor league baseball for the Angels, and her sisters played softball for some time. Eventually, Venezia grew out of softball and wanted something new. Her cousin played college basketball and overseas in Spain for a while; from then on, Venezia wanted to be just like her. She aspires to complete her education in communications and play basketball overseas. Eventually, basketball will come to an end. Therefore, she would love to pursue a career in sports journalism/ broadcasting and maybe even one day become a coach. In the future, Venezia hopes to impact those she comes in contact with positively. She hopes that her kind spirit and sarcastic humor leave a lasting impression. She also hopes to express her strong and determined mindset through writing. Her goal is to leave readers and her peers more than just content with her writing. You may reach her at [email protected] or via Instagram at veneziaperez.