Sophomore Jocelyn Laiz Diaz is starting her first year in the newspaper team at East.

Diaz’s friends encouraged her to join the team along with her love for journalism and art. Diaz has more recently gotten into writing.

“I got into [writing] in the beginning of freshman year,” Diaz said.

While Diaz just recently got into writing she has always had a passion for art. She gained the love of art because of her dad and school projects. 

In 8th grade she was assigned a project over a specific president. She had drawn a photo of John F. Kenndy and her teacher and classmates thought it was so good that they hung the drawing up for the rest of the year. This gave her the passion she needed to pursue her art. 

Diaz mostly focused on pencil and charcoal drawings along with a little acrylic painting. She did most of her work in pencil and charcoal because it allows her to go deeper in detail. Pencil and charcoal are her roots. It is where she started and she plans to continue it throughout the rest of her art.

“[Art] really just lets me express myself,” Diaz said.

Diaz gives her anxiety the credit for where she is now in her life. Without the struggles of anxiety, she would not be apart of the newspaper staff, sharing her love for art or wanting a career in graphic design.

Her dream job is to be a freelance graphic designer. 

“I still have to look more into the profession but yeah, graphic design,” Diaz said.

Deciding on classes is a hard thing to do in high school so Diaz will most likely only stay in the newspaper for two years so she can expand her writing skills and move back to art. While she has lost some interest in art and is focusing more on writing, she plans on going back to her old ways with art because it has helped her in the past.

“[I] definitely [plan to return to art], it has helped me a lot in the past,” Diaz said. 

Diaz hopes to have a successful school year in Newspaper, displaying her artistic abilities.