Grace Almanza, fellow Tribe staff writer, will be representing Santaluces in the art category for the annual Pathfinder Awards.

Almanza always had an interest for photography, and remembers an embarrassing time in eighth grade when she thought she was a top photographer.

“There’s literally whole albums of embarrassing photos of me and my friends,” Almanza said. “At the time I thought I was the epitome of photography. But looking back now, they’re so crappy.”

Since freshman year, Almanza, has been part of the Visual Arts Academy and Draw Paint classes. When she first arrived at Santaluces, she thought the programs were really cool, and the Visual Arts academy helped her figure out what she wanted to do.

“I like making stories with my pictures,” Almanza said.

Almanza considers herself the best representative because of the messages she conveys in her photographs, and the voice she has in the world.

“I feel like I have a lot to say in the photographs I take,” Almanza said. “About Spanish [speaking] cultures and what I think people should see in the world. It feels like I have a voice, and I want to speak out.”

If she wins the $3,000 award, she plans to use it towards college, where she is going to expand her knowledge, and study art and art history at Florida International University.

In the future she wants to work in a museum as an art curator, and just recently decided she might also wanted to be a middle school art teacher.

Preparing for her interview she is mentally planning what she wants to say, since you have to open up to fellow Pathfinders for the mock interviews and in front of a panel of art experts for the actual interviews.

“I have to get down what I want to say to them,” Almanza said. “To make them understand and see how art is important to me, and to make good out of what they give me.”