She isn’t the star athlete of the volleyball team or the soccer team. She isn’t the homecoming queen or captain of the cheerleading squad. What junior Chelsea Perez does requires more work than probably most of all those activities combined.

           “I’m a guard,” Perez said. “I perform with the band, and throw rifles and stuff. I’m also a veteran which means that I’ve been in the program for more than a year.”

Most would think that it wouldn’t require much work, because all you do is throw a riffle in the air, and hold a flag, but because of all the technique it requires, Perez hardly has any time to do anything else.

           “In my spare time I have to practice a lot.” Perez said. “Practice is the major thing with guard. If you don’t practice then your technique flies out the window and then it’s gone. When I’m not practicing I like to listen to music and write, or do random stuff.”

           Even though Guard requires a lot of time, Perez still manages to work on something that many people may not have the skill to do.

           “I really like to write whenever I can,” Perez said. “Currently I am working on completing four books. They’re four little novels that I’ve started working on.”

            The thought of life after high school can be really scary. Less than half of the teenagers in high school actually know where their life is headed after they graduate. Perez is one of these students.

          “My actual goal in life is to become an FBI profiler,” Perez said. “I’ve always been in law enforcement, and I’ve always wanted to be a police officer.”

           Many people are inspired to do something because of a role model that they’ve looked up to. But a simple little T.V show really opened the eyes of Perez on her life dream.

        “One day I found myself watching this show and it was Criminal Minds,” Perez said. “I just fell in love and told myself that’s what I want to do from the get go.”

           Even if the attempted dream doesn’t work out for Perez, she still has very strong backup plan for the future.

           “If I’m not able to become an FBI agent, than I can still be a routine police officer,” Perez said. “I think that’s still really cool and there are times on the job where you find yourself in situations that are interesting. I just want to do something for the community and give back to it.”

           Advice is something that helps people maintain a steady drive on the road to success.

           “The best advice I’ve ever gotten was what my mom told me ‘Be the better person,’” Perez said. “If you have an issue with somebody and they’re not going to do what’s right, then you should still do what’s right even if you feel like you shouldn’t have to. If everyone did that, there would be a lot of less problems and a lot more maturity in the social environment.”