Many things come to mind when I think of the name Gina Gonzales Rodriguez. One would have to be how can I completely immerse you into the mind of such a breathtaking individual. 

Well, the truth is I can’t thoroughly submerge you into her world until I tell you a little about her. And trust me by the end of it you’ll be begging for more answers. 

The 15-year-old sophomore is a first-year journalism student with the position of news reporter and chief fundraiser at OwlFeed. She joined journalism because she has always had a passion for writing and a desire to write stories about new things and get to know the world better. 

  Gina feels like she would be good with these positions because she is good with money and had prior experience with being a newscast reporter in middle school.

In her free time, she said she likes to play basketball at the park, make music playlists when she’s bored, and write, obviously. After high school, Gina said she wants to go to college out of state for journalism. “Journalism has always been my first option but if that’s not working out then I’ve always wanted to go into cosmetology,” Gina said. 

Goofy, a little bit outgoing, and loud are words that come to Gina’s mind when describing herself.

When it comes to her biggest regret Gina said it was not taking any honors classes in her freshman year, once she saw how many of her other friends decided to do it. She told herself she wasn’t good enough for that but regretted it when she realized she had just given up.  

In contrast, she doesn’t just have one proudest moment. “Because every moment I do, I’m proud of,” Gina said. “I wouldn’t be who I am, like myself if I didn’t take any little moments or like to appreciate it. Every step in a moment that we take, it brings us to who we are now. So all my moments are my proudest moment.”

Although, she doesn’t have a proudest moment, to her younger self she would say that, “School is not as bad as it is then, things will get better, schools get better and so do the people and that I’m not gonna die,” she said. “It’s school, I’ll be okay.” 

 When it comes to family life she has four sisters and two brothers. She also looks up to her family a lot, especially her mom because she came out of her hard times and showed her how strong she is. She also admires her grandparents for taking care of her and her siblings.  Her family influences her by teaching her to be strong.

Gina’s other goals are to travel around the world,  she wants to see new places and different cultures. She wants to go to New Orleans, travel to Europe and Scotland for the scenery, but specifically, she wants to travel to Japan. 

With her goofy personality and loud spirit, it’s hard to capture all of what makes Gina herself in a 600-word article. The only way to see Gina in her entirety is to get to know her yourself and even then you might never come to fully understand what makes up such a brilliant person.

Photo Credit: Gina Gonzales Rodriguez