17-year-old April Rios, a senior at Downey High, is one of the new staff members for The Downey Legend. Rios moved to the US from Mexico at age 8 when she was just a first grader. At first she struggled to learn the new language but succeeded at the end. Now at 17 she is deeply in love with writing and photography, although her true passion is photography. She hopes that her photography can transmit her feelings towards certain subjects in life, and she aspires to become a photojournalist for National Geographic Magazine.

In addition to this, Rios also enjoys running and volunteering.  She loves helping others, which is why she volunteers.  Newspaper was a way for this volunteer to experience journalism and gain experience for later goals in life. This journalist, although young, has much to offer to 2011-2012 newspaper staff. Her ambitions will only bring amazing things to the staff. Her goal for this year is to show all students what’s going on from a point of view of someone like himself or herself. “Making a difference” Rios said, “That is all that matters, trying to leave your little grain of sand.” With this mindset surely Rios will be successful not only as a staff member but in her life as well.