Arantxa Arriada: A Senior Profile Portrait by Drianne Pantoja (2014)

Mama Arriada - My Profile Interviewee revolved around my AVID teacher at Los Altos High School, Arantxa Arriada. In AVID class, we know her as our ''AVID Mommy,'' for her tremendous amount of love for her students. Her class is never one of those classes where a student just thinks ''Ugh, I have to go to AVID,'' or ''Ugh, I have Ms. Arriada for English.'' In fact, most end up smiling and excited, which is why I decided to write about her. Most people judge Ms. Arriada based off of her color and assume she's ''just a white girl.'' This really isn't the case though, because she was actually once a young lady who was a first generation student-- that being the reason why she decided to teach AVID.

This project based on the woman above was to acknowledge her for not only teaching very well with her enthusiasm and such, but also because she goes beyond what her job asks for. She comforts each one of her students and reaches out for them whenever they are in need of a hand, which is why her room is a place where everyone wants to be. I have always known how caring and passionate she is for her job, though I myself have never been one that could sit and talk about all of the good deeds she's done, so I had to dig up some information.

In the end, I grew a much stronger bond with her since she has shown me how much she cares, as she cried about three times during this project. Not only that, but with a illness she had to face for a few years, interfering with her work life at Los Altos, she mentioned how hard it was for her to be away from her AVID students. Ms. Arriada is always there for you, even in the darkest times of her own life. With a stronger bond at the end of this project, I also gained much more knowledge in Photography through this project. This was my first legit Freestyle project and I shot over one hundred photos learning the Rule of Thirds, needing to figure out InDesign, and especially needing to figure out how to work Photoshop. I was very proud of myself at the end of this project because with where I plan to go in life, Photoshop is a must.