Lilly Frausto-Gallegos: Hard Work Pays Off

Photo+Credit%3A+Lilly+Frausto-Gallegos

Photo Credit: Lilly Frausto-Gallegos

Izaak Perez, OwlFeed Opinion Columnist

The sweet smell of rain, the sound of cows mooing, the comfortable sweet feeling of relief every time she wakes up. It’s a feeling of accomplishment. Completion. Not a lot of people know what they want in life, but this is definitely not a problem for Lilly Frausto-Gallegos. 

She’s been in high school for three years, and she’s already graduating! It’s an amazing achievement, and I know it’s a hard thing to do. But ever since I’ve known Lilly, she’s worked hard. With a 3.8 GPA, she’s excited to graduate. 

She saw the opportunity to graduate early, and she took it. “I’ve always had a tendency to speed up the process and I feel like I just wanted to get high school over with and start college. I also wanted more independence in a way and just getting ready to start ‘real life,’ as they say.” 

She knows that she wants a small Victorian style cottage house in the countryside of Oregon. She knows she wants a few cute cows to go with it. She knows she wants to be a teacher. She’s able to say, “I’m Lilly Frausto-Gallegos and I know what I want.” 

She has two siblings, an older brother, and a younger sister. Her favorite show is Community, and her favorite movie is La La Land, a movie with a rotten tomato score of 91%, so you can tell she has good taste. Her favorite books are the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, made by Kevin Kwan, a nominee of the Legionnaires of Laughter Legacy Awards.

She was born in California but raised here, in Arizona. And like most people, she’s not too fond of the heat. But she does agree that there are upsides. 

“I like the people that I have met in Arizona (all of my friends) and I love all the cool places we have for hiking,” she said. “Like almost everyone I am not a big fan of the heat that we have.” 

Lilly has been attending Agua Fria High School since freshman year, 2018. 

“To be honest I think Agua Fria is what you make of the people you surround yourself with,” Lilly said. “So for me I think Agua Fria is a great place to meet great people. I have met some of the best people at Agua Fria so I consider myself very lucky. 

“I’ve decided to pursue a career in education,” she continued confidently. “The goal I want to achieve is having a good connection with my future students and getting to see them grow as people.” 

She credits her teachers as her inspiration for this career choice because she notices their passion for teaching students to the best of their abilities. 

“I would love to do that in the future and form a strong connection with my future students like my teachers have done,” she said. I have no doubt that Lilly would be a great teacher since she has a great focus on whatever she puts her mind to. 

Photo Credit: Lilly Frausto-Gallegos

Even her coach Mr. Martin recognizes her abilities as he coaches her in tennis. 

“Lilly is a great athlete and always has been,” Mr. Martin said. “I have coached her in two sports and she always picked up technique and footwork very quickly.” 

Lilly was on the varsity tennis team and her coach was impressed by her very fast reflexes and great technique. As for her classes, her teacher Ms. Denofre talked about how she is as a student. 

“In class, Lilly is determined to do well on all assignments,” Ms. Denofre said. “I appreciate that she asks me to check her work before turning it in and is very responsive to feedback.” 

Her best friend Sophia Gonzales calls Lilly a trustworthy and kind-hearted friend and thinks Lilly will be very successful in her future. 

To describe Lilly, Sophia said, “Lilly is very determined because whenever she thinks of something she always does it. She’s funny and always making people laugh. And she’s caring because she’s always helping her mom with her little sister.”

”I think Lily is going to be really successful. She is really smart and she told me what she wanted to be when she gets older so I hope she does what she says,” Sophia continued.

Lilly would love to live in Oregon, the beaver state. She said, “During the fall I went to Oregon and I thought it was so beautiful and I just fell in love with the whole state.” 

Lilly wants to live in the countryside of Oregon, and live a quiet, peaceful life. But still, she has plans for a future business, having to do with her cottage and pet cows. “I would start a cow cafe business,” she said. “Which is where you go to a cafe and hangout with cows.” 

I, for one, know I would love to go to a cafe like that, and I’m sure she will do well in that business.

For a goodbye as she goes off to college and lives out her life, her friend Sophia has one last thing to say: “I hope you do well in college and don’t put a lot of pressure on yourself tehehe. I’m going to miss you but I’m really happy for you.”