Perla Valdez rushes into class with her fellow classmates at the Technical College of the Rockies, everyone arriving at the same time and making it busy and loud. She sits down and class starts with book work before  moving onto hands-on-activities. Valdez is going to the TCR for the ultrasound tech course; she either wants to be a CNA or a Phlebotomist. Her desire for a job in the medical field began with her aunt who used to take her to see residents as she was also a CNA. “Doing clinicals was hard but their smiles are worth every minute!” Says Perla. 

Emily Butler plays for Delta High School Softball and has played with Valdez since her freshman year. In fact,  they have known each other even before that. Butler said that she has known Valdez since they were in Middle School  and she has always seen Valdez as “bubbly and the sunshine on a cloudy day.”  This year Valdez took on a leadership role in softball. 

“This year Valdez was really a leader and just helped me out personally a lot! She never let me get down and was always there to pick my head up no matter how she played. We were always able to rely on her,” Butler said.  Butler describes her first impression of Valdez as “She was just super nice and sweet.”

Jazlyn Naranjo has played multiple sports with Perla Valdez including softball, basketball, and tennis. Naranjo describes Valdez as “nurturing, affectionate, protective, and kind-hearted.” Naranjo and Valdez have known each other for nearly ten years, starting their friendship in recreational softball,hough they used to be “rivals.” 

“My first impression of Perla was not that good. One of the first interactions I remember with her was when we played softball through the rec center and we were on different teams. It wasn’t that we hated each other or anything to that extreme, but we had the biggest rivalry because we were some of the best softball players playing and so every game against each other was intense.”