Sofia Velasquez-Talero, 9th Grade

How’s your school year going?: My school year is going well I guess.. It’s hard, like always, but it’s good.

What are you involved in on campus?: I’m involved in dance, dance team prep, I’m involved in a business, marketing, and finance class. In school for after school, school activities like clubs and stuff, I’m in drama club and student council, and I’m also in art.

Do you have any other hobbies or interests?: Yes, I like to dance outside of school, I like to bake and cook. And I like to craft, like origami and that stuff.

How long have you been dancing?: I have been dancing since I was about 3 or 4 years old.

What’s your favorite kind of dance?: My favorite kind of dance is probably either like jazz or contemporary.

You said you’re doing dance team prep, so you want to join the Star Steppers?: Yes.

You said you’re in a business class, so do you have any idea of what else you want to do, related to business?: My goal really is to go to college and study business management, because it’s a really useful major to have. It’s very important and it can help you in different things in life. So I’m just going to keep doing business related in that path to high school and then college.

So you also said you like art, what’s your favorite kind of art?: My favorite art is probably, I don’t know if this counts as a type of art, but i just like drawing digitally.. In my art class it’s not just “art 1 or 2”, it’s called principles of art and AV. Meaning it’s all about photoshop and Adobe illustrator, that kind of stuff, on the computer. So I’m into drawing like logos or graphic, not really like whole realistic pieces.

Back to dance, has dance changed you in any way, how does it make you feel?: It honestly just makes me happy. The reason that my parents got me into dance was because I would just go all over the place in the house, and sometimes break things, or you know break myself. So dance just became my moment to do and move and I just like it. It makes me happy and the rhythm of the music just helps.

You like music too?: I love music, and I love listening to music. I have a 2 day playlist on Spotify.

Do you have any specific genres you like?: Mainly pop honestly, other than that it’s just random music I find on TikTok  or Instagram ads and it’s just like you know what, “I’m gonna add this.”

Any specific artist?: You know something about me is that I can never remember any authors or artists. You can tell me a song and I’ll be like “oh yeah, I heard that somewhere” and then turns out it’s my favorite song. I can’t remember titles or authors or artists, anything.

You said you were in drama club, how long have you like drama, acting?: I had never really gotten into that… but when I lived back in Columbia, we had this like Spanish class, same as you have English here, and a lot of projects would be to write your own play or script, and then we perform those little plays. And I would always try to get the main character cause no one else liked to act except me. And then from there I just kind of continued on.

So you said you lived in Colombia?: Yes, and in Mexico.

How long did you live there?: In Mexico I lived there until I was 6, because I was born there. Then I moved to Colombia and I lived 2 years in the main city, which is Bogotá, and then 2 years in a less known city called Bucaramanga.

When did you move here?: It was a great opportunity that my parents got, we moved here just because it’s a better place to live to be honest. Better job opportunities, my dad got to start his own little business. Also better schools, more safety, better overall.

You said your dad started a business, did that inspire you for your interest in business?: Well, since I was little, my parents have always been entrepreneurs, in the sense that they always have owned some type of way in theri business. My mom’s in the same business she was in since I was born. It’s more like a marketing thing, but she works from home, she has everything at home so she has a lot of time for us. Before we moved here my dad also did that, and now his business takes up a lot more time because he’s starting it from 0. The one that they had before was like an enterprise, that was letting them come and have a little bit more free time rather than sit in a desk.

How was your experience moving, from place to place?: I kind of had to adapt, the hardest thing was making friends and adapting to my environment. Because it was always very different. In Bogotá for example, I was in a religious school, then in Bucaramanga, kids there were a lot more relaxed, and just worried, more about being cool than anything. Might have been the age but I don’t know. Then, I just had to change my personality various times to be able to make friends and adapt quickly. Which only lasted for two years so it didn’t really help.  

What was your favorite place that you lived in?: Definitely here. I love the food, the culture, everything, but there’s nothing like being able to walk home alone without worrying that someonés gonna kidnap you on the corner of a street. Also just the general less contamination, better opportunities for me and my sister.

Did moving around change you in any way?: I feel like yes, most children stick with the same friends all throughout their childhood and then some come to adulthood and they’re still with the same friends, like a really special bond. I haven’t had that. I’m constantly changing friends, so I never have the same friend for more than 4 years, or 2 years in this case. I had really really great friends in Mexico, I really wish I could just track back in time again.

Do you feel like you’ve made good friends here too?: Yeah, Covid kind of killed my mojo though. I have like 3 friends left from my 30+ friend group, so that’s fun.