Katrina Dela Cruz

Katrina Dela Cruz, a 16-year-old junior at Lee High School, simply and unequivocally loves to write. She attends the North East School of Arts, where she quenches her thirst for expressive, embellished writing as a creative writing major.

"I don't care if I'm in California or Australia, as long as I'm able to write," Dela Cruz said.

An Alaska native, Dela Cruz is still trying to conquer the broiling Texas weather after four years. Her environment has changed, but her passion for journalism has remained the same.

"Journalism is not just a career, it's a life-changing phenomenon," Dela Cruz said.

When she is not studying for rigorous advanced placement and gifted and talented classes or fulfilling demands as her school's newspaper editor, Dela Cruz is running hard for home plate.

"Baseball has been a passion of mine since I was a baby," she said. "My dad loved it; now I love it."

Dela Cruz is also a member of the Sign Language Honor Society at her school.

"I've been interested in sign language since fourth grade," she said, explaining she wanted to communicate with children in the neighborhood who were deaf or hearing challenged.

"It started with just my ABCs, but now I'm able to fully communicate," she said.

While she may have a craze for pressing pen to paper and fervor for sliding into home, Dela Cruz's aspiration is unpretentious.

"My goal is to end up having a successful life with family and children," she said.