“Walking everyday between classes with Lucero, that’s always who I was with.” Natalia Gabriella Joanes. Puerto Rican/Cuban. Going to UCF. Leo, and she’s not into astrology (though her parents always say that she certainly is a Leo). Her focus right now is self-growth. She wants to get closer to God and to love herself for who He’s made her to be. She struggles with that. She doesn’t want to be so hard on herself with her differences. And neither does she wish to let other harsh things and people get to her head anymore. Natalia says that there’s a lot of fake people who may want to be with you for other things besides you. But she still does believe that meeting new people out of her “bubble” is part of her growth, nonetheless. Natalia’s caring, and she’s empathetic. She can “feel” for you, just as she feels for babies. She has baby fever, actually. She wants to have kids so bad, and she hopes to love them just as much as her mom has loved her and her older siblings. And because of babies, she’s also stuck between becoming a neonatal nurse or a labor & delivery nurse, despite her extended family’s wishes for her to become a doctor. Either way, she’ll be part of the process of ensuring that children are born into this world healthy, and that’s what’ll make her happy. Aside from that, her idea of a happy future also entails a life with 3 kids, 2 doggies, a husband, and a home in Puerto Rico as the Puerto Rican atmosphere seems to have nicer people, better food, and music “everywhere.” And maybe she’ll also be continuing her “one” creative outlet of doing colorful eye makeup as she lives a life of “no regrets” but things to be “proud of” and learned from. Charter support team: Lucero, Lourdes, Estrella, Diego. Favorite show: FRIENDS. Favorite artists: Ozuna & Prince Royce. Advice for charter underclassmen: “Keep your circle small, and just focus on your grades.”

• By: Jena Manning