High school is an important part of a teenager’s life and it prepares them for many opportunities in the future, both academically and socially. Justin Nuñez is one of the many students at Cardozo High School who knows how to make the most of their time during these four years.
Nuñez is a junior at Cardozo and is a part of multiple clubs and programs at school. “I’m one of the male vice presidents of Gateway, percussionist in the Marching Band, event coordinator of Clay Modeling Club, in DnD Club, Tri-M Music Honor Society, Key Club, and inactive roster on the tennis team,” he shared.
When Nuñez first started as the vice president for Gateway, he explained that he faced imposter syndrome.
“It’s when you feel like you don’t quite belong or don’t quite deserve what you obtained through hard work,” he recalled. Good thing is, for Nuñez, he’s overoome this and is honored to hold the position. Nuñez enjoys the fun times he gets to enjoy at Gateway.
“I enjoy all of the opportunities and events it has provided me and it has made my time at Cardozo less boring,” he said. Nuñez also expressed his opinion about Dressing for Success, a Gateway initiative that has been at Cardozo for years. “I feel like it’s a pretty good tradition, dressing professionally every week can help you feel more comfortable. when you have to dress nicely for an interview or any other important event,” Nuñez explained.
“And it’s only one day of the week and it could be made up, so it’s pretty lenient.”
Music is also a huge part of Nuñez’s lifestyle, sharing “I play percussion and I reside in the percussion section playing drums and other percussion instruments.” Concerts are a huge part of a musician’s life, and Nuñez knows how to impress a crowd. He’s played in various concerts and events such as the Memorial Day Parade, which was held last year. “We’re going to be playing at the Bayside Saint Patrick’s Parade on April 6th,” Nuñez shared.
Clay Modeling is also one of the clubs Nuñez joined, where he gets to express creativity in his clay creations. “We haven’t really had a meeting in a while but we make all sorts of things involving clay. Our president, Raychel, teaches us all of the steps involved and provides us with materials.”
“We have full creative freedom and some people are really creative, I made a tray for my spare change. And we’re having a bake sale on April 11th,” Nuñez stated.
DnD, which is also known as Dungeons and Dragons, is also one of the many activities that Nuñez partakes in. “It’s pretty interesting. My group’s DM (the person who created the campaign) is Alexa and she’s created a nice story for us to play in. I originally joined DnD to expand my imagination and to learn how to think outside of the box.”
He also shared one of his favorite moments in Key Club, explaining “This year, I haven’t really done too many events for Key Club since I’ve been really busy, but I did one event that I really enjoyed. It was called Bagel Fest, we helped organize and clean a venue full of bagel shops from around New York and even out of the country all the while we got free samples,” Nuñez recalled.
Nuñez has a plan for his future, though he’s undecided, he has a basis of what his interests are. “I have been slightly interested in t”he psychology field, I do plan to go to college and I’ve been interested in Vanderbilt University lately,” he said.
“I know that all of my extracurriculars will help me in the college application process and set me apart from other applicants, and they are also really fun.”
Nuñez shared his advice towards the freshmen of Cardozo, “My advice would be to join as many clubs and extracurriculars as possible. You’re only in high school once, and you should make the most of it.”
