Youth Spotlight: Mariana Perez builds community through leadership, service and a calling to teach

Socorro High School senior Mariana Perez has spent her high school years leading from the front, in the classroom, in athletics and in the community. A five‑year varsity wrestler, two‑term class president and active church volunteer, Perez is preparing to graduate with a clear sense of purpose: becoming an elementary school teacher.

Perez joined the girls wrestling team as an eighth grader, when the program was still small and developing. Her coach offered her a varsity spot if she committed to the sport, and she accepted the challenge.

“It was like a different world,” she said in an interview. “I fell in love with it.”

Perez wrestled varsity throughout high school and helped the girls program grow from about six athletes to nearly a dozen. She built close friendships with older teammates and often had to defend her varsity spot through wrestle‑offs. Though she came up short at regionals this year, she said the experience shaped her confidence and work ethic.

Perez also serves as senior class president, a role she held as a junior as well. She helps organize senior events, including ditch day, senior prank, senior trip and homecoming activities.

“I’m focused on all of our senior events,” she said. “I like making sure things happen for our class.”

Her service extends beyond school. Perez teaches a catechism class at her church and has been active in 4‑H, showing pigs her first two years of high school and goats during her junior and senior years.

Perez traces her interest in teaching back to childhood, when a family member first suggested she had a natural way with kids. The idea stayed with her, but it wasn’t until the start of her senior year that she felt certain.

“I thought, ‘I think this is what I’m supposed to do’,” she said.

She credits several teachers, from her first-grade teacher to her current history and math instructors, with shaping her love of learning and showing her the impact a supportive educator can have.

“I remember thinking, ‘I can’t wait for math class’,” she said. “Teachers like that inspired me. I want to be that person for someone else.”

Perez plans to study elementary education at New Mexico State University. She has applied for several scholarships, including the Golden Apple Scholarship, which supports future educators in New Mexico.

Perez and her twin sister, Iliana, have rarely been apart. With Iliana planning to enlist and Mariana staying in New Mexico for college, the sisters are preparing for their first long separation.

“All our lives we’ve done everything together,” Mariana said. “It’s going to be a great adventure for both of us.”

Even so, she said they plan to stay close, even joking that she’ll send letters every day.