If you’ve ever spotted someone glamorously strutting down the school hallways with a canvas painting in one head and shiny locks cascading down her back, congratulations, you’ve met the one and only Andrea Dorantes. As both an artist and scientist, Andrea is a natural leader on campus. Not only does she teach art to kids in local communities through ArtStart, but she also supports dementia patients and caregivers as vice president of Rekindle. As the Link Crew Commissioner, you can count on her to coordinate and advertise events and training sessions, keeping one of the largest student organizations on campus in shape. For the past 3 years, she’s been juggling her perfect academic record with sharing her creativity on campus as an artist for the Wolfpacket (we’ve lost count on how many times her work has been on the cover) and an active member of speech and debate.
One of Dorantes’ all-time favorite memories on campus was making a parody to WAP about photosynthesis and cellular respiration for her AP Biology final. “I think it was pretty encaptivating, and I had a super fun time singing about cellular respiration,” Dorantes said, nodding confidently. After high school, she hopes to pursue a career in STEM, while keeping her art business alive on the side. “I’m really interested in biology and genetics so I would like to find a biology career that I could relate to my skills in art. Creativity has always been a really important outlet to express myself with,” Dorantes said. “We’ll see if I can get through medical school,” she jokingly added.
As Andrea looks ahead to the next chapter, she also reflects on what she’s learned from her four years of high school. As someone who has always embodied the spirit of community, her advice to freshmen is: “Uplift each other. It’s really important to get involved with everything. The most important thing is to get to know people in your school. The best thing you can do is to create fun memories with them.”
Of course, no high school journey is complete without the people who make it unforgettable. “I’d like to shout out Kate Song for being the greatest, and also all my friends who don’t go to the same school as me,” said Andrea. “My friends and my family have always been supportive of everything I do.”
