Senior Emilio Del Carmen stands tall with glasses and a bright colored streak in his hair. This is his first year as a writer on the Southerner. 

One of Del Carmen’s reasons to join newspaper was because he wanted to finally write pieces that he is interested in, instead of papers assigned in a standard class. “I’ve always wanted to write for the newspaper, but this year I decided to make the commitment,” said Del Carmen.

South in general has provided a great atmosphere for Del Carmen to be in. “I really like the community and diversity at South,” he said. “The staff and students feel more like friends.”

Del Carmen is involved in many areas of the school. He plays soccer in the fall, and will be a captain of the nordic skiing team this winter. He appreciates being part of a team in soccer, but also likes the individual focus that nordic skiing requires. Del Carmen also spends his time in choir and theater, and hopes to land a role in South’s production of Grease this year.

He’s also captain of South’s lesser known but still totally official League of Legends team. League of Legends is a popular online video game, which contains chapters for high school students to play in. Del Carmen started the team with his fellow player, junior Aaron Vanek, and hopes to gain more recognition for it this year.

Del Carmen has one sister, Beatrix, who is a sophomore at South. “People have said that we’re their ‘sibling goals,’” said Del Carmen. The two of them collaborate on music, and both enjoy writing fiction. “My writing comes in spurts,” he said. When inspiration hits, he’ll focus intensely on the piece he’s writing.

When asked what his goals for senior year are, Del Carmen ran to his backpack and brought out a notebook with a list he’d made before. Some included in the list are: to score against Southwest in a soccer game, to get all of his homework done on time, and to land a date for the Sadie Hawkins dance! He is looking forward to a busy but very successful year.