I met Gabriel at the end of my freshman year. I remember it was the first week of track practice and I had blue glitter nails that had fallen off on my index and thumb finger, meeting Gabriel that was the first thing I told him about me. That isn’t usually what you would tell someone when you first meet them but there was something about him that seemed so open to me almost like nothing could phase him.

I have never met anyone like him before and I feel like he is often overlooked or seen as something less than what he is. The reason I am writing this article is not only to document my feelings towards Gabriel Herrera, but to show everyone why they should feel this way too.

Gabriel is one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met, he is what some would call a young activist and one of the most liberated sixteen year olds I’ve ever met in my life. Even considering the fact that he was raised in Ripon, in which most would have a pretty sheltered mindset and wouldn’t even consider thinking about making a difference anywhere else.

Gabriel on the other is constantly making achievements and thinking about what to do next. When asked what he considers his greatest accomplishments in life was there was a pause of debate in his mind ending with him saying “I don’t think i have yet reached my greatest accomplishment yet, I believe I still have much more ahead of me and my ideas of achievement are constantly changing.”.

I asked him how he envisioned himself when he was younger and if he was the person he expected to be, “no but I’m glad I’m someone I didn’t expect to be, I think when we are younger we always see ourselves being older and having all of the qualities we desire at that time because overtime we grow as a whole”.

Education has always been a strength of Gabriel’s, honor roll since first grade, all honors and ap classes in high school maintaining a stable 4.3 gpa. Gabriel is also in leadership holding the historian role for our school. His favorite pastimes include bike rides, photography, reading, listening to music/podcasts, and being with friends.