Ten seconds are left on the clock, and #21 is running down the court, basketball inbound, and boom, she shoots and she scores! The crowd goes wild as Marisol Tena makes yet another game-winning shot. Marisol Tena is a senior here at Agua Fria High School. She contributes to many clubs and programs, from being a StuCo representative, a basketball player, a beach volleyball player, an NHS member, and the list goes on. Seeing Marisol firsthand every day and just feeling her radiation of sunshine has been such a great thing. 

I had the opportunity to sit down with her and have a conversation about her senior year and all the memories that came before it. Marisol is the definition of Senioritis, throughout this interview, she just took me across the topic and laid out just how hard it is for her to come to school. She just has a tough time getting herself to get up and just show up to the first period. Basketball is Marisol’s thing and just hearing her talk about it just shows the passion she has for it. Marisol has been playing basketball since she was in 6th grade and she just finished her final high school game this past January. When I asked her what it has taught her she had quite a heartfelt response, “Basketball has taught me I can literally do anything I want if I work hard enough for it”. I have witnessed firsthand how hard Marisol works for anything and everything she does, I have been to some of her games and her passion and drive are just indescribable. Watching her play is just so amazing. She’s just one of those people who you can just love what they do. 

I also had the chance to talk to Marisol’s high school coach, Mr. Polvino. The first question I asked him was, “How has Marisol been as an athlete?” “A great person to have on the team and part of the program,” was his response. Polvino went on to say how she is a great leader, and in her senior year she just took over and demonstrated the skill of leadership, he states this was something they needed and he was just so happy to have her there. The two words he used to describe her were focused and perfectionist. Polvino says Marisol just gets bothered if everything is not as perfect as she wants it to be. And as far as focus goes he just used the example of her still going out to play and practice these last couple of days even though her final season had already passed. “She’s a great kid” was Polvino’s final statement.

Another sport Marisol took in her Junior and Senior years was Beach Volleyball. Beach Volleyball was more of a fun little thing Marisol took on, and she says the one thing this sport has taught her was that she genuinely does deserve a break every once in a while. I was also able to interview and interact with her volleyball coach Mrs. Rams. Rams used the word altruistic to describe Marisol. “She does bring a lot of good energy to people. It talks about giving to people without getting anything back. She’s very giving. Maybe putting her needs and feelings aside to help other people and give others compliments, she’s always thinking about other people.” Rams says she is just always willing to go above and beyond to make everyone happy. She just enjoys Marisol’s presence and thinks that she just brings so much to the table. Rams even noted how when she broke both of her feet, Marisol would come up to her class every day and take her down to Beach Volleyball. The final question was, “How has it been having Marisol as an athlete”, “ Having her as an athlete is so fun and Beach Volleyball is super chill, and I think some of my favorites things are she kind of just hangs out with me as we play our games and she keeps me company, we just have some good convos, so that’s awesome” was her response. Through and through Marisol is a great athlete, a great person, and an essential to any team.

My next section of questions had more to do with Marisol’s past years, her academics, and just more of her school stuff. My first question was, “If you could tell a Freshman you one thing, what would you say?”, Marisol went on the roundabout of how she would just tell her past self to finish her core classes because now she kind of got stuck with them. On the other hand, Marisol was asked a question about her future. “When you look back on this school in later years, what will you remember?” “Our Homecoming Week, it was the most memorable.” Marisol just happens to be in Student Council, she says being in this makes her feel very in tune with the school. She even went as far as to say being part of the Student Council has been the highlight of her Senior Year. Marisol does not regret joining the organization, she thinks she made a very wise decision to just do it her Senior Year because she believes it is just the absolute best year to do it. “In 20 years I am going to be an electrical engineer,” was one of the most beautiful words from this whole interview. 

Seeing women pursue careers in STEM is such a beautiful thing, and seeing someone who I know just makes me so unbelievably stunned. I also asked Marisol the question “If you were told you couldn’t graduate unless you proved an achievement from the past 4 years, what example would you use?” “It’s a cliche from my basketball, but I hit a game-winning buzzer beater, and that’s like the most perseverance one. The whole game I was not making any shots and then my team still trusted me to shoot the ball when there were five seconds left and I made it!” This just ties back to Marisol’s whole basketball career and just really proves how much she has achieved and accomplished these past four years. Marisol says the worst thing about being a senior is simply just catching Senioritis. She just explained to me the whole finishing concept has been dreadful. Another thing that’s kind of been a weight on her shoulders is scholarships and college, it’s just another stressful thing for her this year. On the same note, Marisol had the passion of possibly going to school in Hawaii. However, she is sticking with ASU because they have a really good Engineering program. If given the opportunity, Marisol would 100% transfer over to Hawaii.

 I also asked Marisol who gave her the best advice and what they said, the person just happened to be her hairdresser, “Los que quiere puede, solo hay tener que querer”. This means that if you want something, you can get it, you just really have to want it. This specific phrase really just stuck with Marisol, and she still carries it on now. 

If you happen to be reading this article and are an incoming freshman, Marisol’s best advice is to finish your core classes. She also says just to learn to have fun and find the balance between school and fun. Just find that harmony so by the time you get to Senior year, you aren’t super burned out, is her whole point. Marisol considers the whole AFHS staff to be a mentor, the way she talks about the school is just so passionate. 

Grace Sweet is Marisol’s soul sister, or at least this is how she describes it. The pair met freshman year, Grace calls her “MJ”. The two have been best friends on and off the court, and the way Grace answered these upcoming questions just shows how much genuine love she has for Marisol. Grace’s favorite memory with Marisol is an oldie but a goodie, it took place their Freshman year. It’s something along the lines of Marisol already having a not-too-good day, and she then had to deal with Ms. Mccarthy not accepting her late assignment. This caused her to have a breakdown, “I grabbed her backpack for her because she had left it behind and when she had seen that, she said something along the lines of “I don’t need you to hold my backpack”’, Grace explained. “I got butt hurt because I was only trying to help, but she later apologized”. This happened oh so long ago but the pair still cherish the memory so much, it is something that they laugh about and quote quite often now. Grace’s word of choice for Marisol was genuine. This was hard for Grace to pick one because she believes there are so many that describe her, but this one just stuck. “She has no cruel intention with anything or anyone, she’s trustworthy and has a sweet soul”, was Grace’s reason for this word choice. The iconic pair is a force to be reckoned with, and just interviewing Grace I can really tell how strong this friendship is. 

Farewell Marisol!

This final segment of my article will be some farewells from 4 of her mentors and 1 of her closest friends.

Mrs. Snell: “I would say something that Marisol has been challenged with this year is Senioritis, or maybe like just deciding on what she wants to do and actually going for it, so I would tell Marisol do not hesitate in what it is that she wants to do because she’s so capable of the absolute brightest future, so I encourage her to just follow whatever it is she wants to do and don’t hold herself back because she is set to reach the stars, and I think she just needs to chase that.”

Mr. Boothman: “She doesn’t have to be perfect at everything, no one is perfect at everything, Breathe.”

Ms. Rams: “My message for Marisol is that she is going to do amazing things, I have no doubt in the world that she is going to thrive in college.”

Coach Polvino: “Whatever she chooses, because she’s flip-flopping between what she wants to do in college. Whatever she chooses, make sure to give it a 100%, like she’s always done with basketball, but she also needs to just relax too.”

Grace Sweet: “We made it. I would tell her that she should be proud of how far she’s come. To continue to live life to the fullest, to stay spontaneous. This is no farewell because we’ve become soul sisters, I feel whenever she feels and vice versa. She’s truly an angel on Earth, and anyone who’s had even a small conversation with her knows she’s someone special.”

Goodbye, Marisol, once an Owl, always an Owl! You should be so proud of yourself, you have done so many great things and I have no doubt that you will continue to do so. Good luck from me and the OwlFeed Journalism Crew!