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.

Amairani Triana, a senior at Downey High School, joined The Downey Legend 2013-2014 staff this year as a photographer. She not only loves to capture pictures on her camera for fun, but for the deeper meaning of the story that the pictures tell. Triana has always been interested in photography and decided to fulfill her passion for taking pictures by becoming a photojournalist for The Downey Legend. This photographer is hoping to improve her photo skills so that she catches the eyes of audiences all over campus. Triana also plans on furthering her photography skills in college as she hopes to attend Cal State Long Beach next year. She also plans on traveling to uncivilized areas around the world, such as Rwanda, Africa, to broaden her horizons; she aspires to open her mind to the different views of the world. Although she is unsure of her career choice at the moment she is sure she wants to keep photography a part of her as she progresses in life.   Since Triana is an only child, in her free time she enjoys spoiling her dog, Lucy, a golden retriever, who keeps her company and is the subject of many of her freelance photos. When she is not pampering her much-adored puppy this photographer likes to kick her feet up at the end of the day and chant “Goal!” as she watches her favorite sport: soccer, on TV. While at school, she can be found around campus with her best friend of two years, photographer Cindy Macias. The photographer explains that her best friend is the complete opposite of herself. “Cindy has a very strong and bold personality, a little more outgoing than me,” Triana said, “I’m more of a quiet and gentle person.” Her mother who has made Triana the friendly person that she is today inspires Triana’s positive outlook on life and innocent nature. “My mom is the person I look up to,” Triana said. “She is always so happy and positive, and she can never be mean. She is just an overall good person.” Her optimistic attitude keeps Triana going as she aspires to reach her goals and further her education as a photographer.