Biography

My name is Christina Chavez. I am 15 years old. I'm a 9th grader at Cibola High School. I have lived in Albuquerque all of my life. My education is very important to me. I want to pursue my dream of becoming a pediatrician. I want to be a pediatrician because I love working with young children. I'm hoping that I will be able to help lots of children be healthy and stay healthy. I have a long road of education to look forward to, but I know that in the end it will all be worth it.

I love being an older sister to a 6 year old sister and a 3 year old brother. I love knowing that two children are looking up to me.

I play the clarinet in my High school marching band. I've been playing for playing for 4 years now. This was my first year marching. It was a wonderful experience. It was a lot of hard work. I also play the guitar. I started playing the guitar for my grandfather who has passed away. He also played. I guess I got my musical talent from him. Playing music means a lot to me. I plan on teaching others to play.

I am a black belt in Isshin Ryu karate. I have been studying for about 10 years now. I started when I was five. Karate has taught me how to defend myself, self-confidence and discipline. So many people at my karate club have inspired me to never give up on myself. The most important person would have to be my mother. She is also a black belt. She has never given up on her dreams and now she has started a new karate club in Paradise Hills. I hope to become half of what she is. I have been volunteering at the Gibson Karate club for about 3 years. I stated when I was a green belt. Sensei Edmon says that to be a good karateka you must give back what you have learned. I had to teach adults and it was hard for me at first but then I became more confident and became a better teacher.

I also volunteer at the Paradise Hills Community Center on Wednesdays and Fridays. I work with children there. On winter break and some weekends I have worked at the Laurel Skies Nursing Home. I spent a lot of time visiting with the men and women and I gave them manicures. I met a lot of interesting people. This summer I worked with foster treatment children. Most of them were close to my age and it was very challenging. It was very hard to have to deal with children that had behavior problems, but I did and I believe it made me a stronger person. I have done a lot of volunteer work and it all pays off. I love knowing that I have done something for my community .I recommend it to everyone.