A-West sophomore balances playing soccer, volunteering, and school
Sophomore Alana Martinez plays soccer at A-West. Photo courtesy of Alana Martinez.
Alana Martinez is a student that goes to Arvada West High School. Not only does she maintain a GPA higher than a 4.0, she is in all honors and she is in classes with juniors – though she is only a sophomore – for math and science. Martinez says that keeping up her grades while doing all of her extra curricular activities is a matter of how much you want it. She is also in orchestra class and plays the violin, which she practices outside of school on top of all of the other things she does.
Outside of school Martinez is a very active high schooler.
“I spend most of my time practicing or playing soccer,” said Martinez.
She plays soccer for the Arvada West High School soccer team. Martinez has been playing soccer since she was about 5 years old. She likes finding new competition and seeing what she needs to improve on when she plays.
She says, “I like finding new competition and seeing if I can beat others.”
She likes to challenge herself to do the most that she can when she is not doing something with her family or doing schoolwork.
Another thing that she likes to do in her free time is volunteer. She volunteers at two different places: the homeless shelters and bingo at a retirement home for school. She does bingo for her orchestra class because it is required, but she still likes doing it. Martinez spends her own free time doing these volunteer activities on the weekends when she is not playing or practicing for soccer. She says she does it to connect with other people and make new friendships.
She says, “I find joy in helping others who are disadvantaged or who need the extra help. And if I can give up some of my time to help somebody else I would rather do that. I also enjoy making connections with new people, and understanding how people act and just making new friendships.”
Martinez is a very busy high schooler but still manages to keep up her grades, play soccer, and help others in need. How does she do it? Martinez says, “I think it’s just a matter of will and wanting to do well in school and giving up my time to help others. It’s just a choice I make.”
