“…like I’m sixteen, I’m never going to be sixteen every again so for me the way I see it, I’m only sixteen once, I just wanna live my best life and like have fun.”

Jasmine Perez, a sixteen-year-old from Santee High School, has learned to not care what others think about her and to do what makes her happy. Jasmine has also learned to be a better person for herself, for others, and to not have regrets when she’s older. 

She’s also a cheerleader which has impacted her life and future in an amazing way by letting her create new memories, discovering her passion, and making her be the best student she can be. All of that being said, she’s still a junior which means that sometimes the work can pile up and be stressful. 

Jasmine also talks about how she works at a little shop downtown where they sell clothes. She works there to help others improve their fashion and to make them more confident in their bodies. 

She talks about her personal life, how much happiness her puppy Nova brings her, how she wants to live her best life, and she gives advice to people who are younger than her. She tells them to not change for other people because you never know their true intentions and if they are fake to you. 

Transcript:

Angela Hernandez: Hello my name is Angela Hernandez. I am 13 years old, today is September 30 2022 and I’m speaking with-

Jasmine Perez: Jasmine Perez. I’m sixteen I’m a junior in Santee High. 

AH: Who is actually my god sister um and I’m recording this interview in Los Angeles California um now we are going to begin the interview, so jasmine can you tell about someone who had a big influence in your life?

JP: A person who has a big influence in my life would be my mom because she is a caring and loving woman and she makes me a better person.

AH: Um speaking of your mom um what if is like the most important lesson she’s taught you or like something you remember very well?

JP: The most important lesson she has taught me is to not care what other people think about me and to just be happy about myself and that’s all that matters. 

AH: Okay I can see that in you, you’re like a very like confident person [laughs] So um how is high school? Oh ya how is high school? 

JP: High school is fun because there are many activities like Friday night lights and events but it can be stressful because all the work can pile up and sometimes you might not understand the lessons they teach but overall high school is pretty fun unless you make… unless you don’t make it fun then it’s going to be boring but it depends on who you hang out with and like be social. 

AH: Hm ya like the friend group basically.

JP: Ya.

AH: Um speaking of high school do you have any favorite classes?

JP: My favorite class would be small business because you actually learn things that would be helpful and useful in the future. We also learn the right career paths to take and the one that makes better money so you won’t, so you’ll like have an idea of what the of lifestyle you wanna live based on your job.

AH: I like that about your school, oh um speaking about school is there anything you’re passionate about like maybe an after school activity or just like a club.

JP: Ya something I’m really passionate about at the moment would be cheer. The reason why I’m passionate about cheer is because it’s fun and like you like you basically get to kinda experience that high school like the movies like the ones they be like [inaudible] ya because like it’s like your a cheerleader and it’s like really fun if you make it fun but besides that my coach is the dean so therefore she has strict rules and pushes us to be good at school and never be late to school so therefore all of that makes us a good student and makes us have good grades because if we don’t have good grades then she like benches us because she says that we don’t, if we don’t put our, basically for her school is the first thing to her so if we’re not doing good at school then there no reason for us to be a cheerleader or like or it’s not. How do I say this like you can’t be in the field cheering for, cheering and having fun because you don’t deserve it as long as you’re doing good at school that’s all that matters and that’s all she cares about.

AH: Wow, I feel like that’s a very good coach to have because just like helping like helping around the school and being a good student can like affect many things in the future. Um so like you um do like is there any wait you’re sixteen right?

JP: Yes.

AH: Um, do you work?

JP: Yes I work at  downtown in this cute little shop where they sell clothes for good prices.

AH: Um, so like do you enjoy working?

JP: Yes I like working at the shop because it makes me feel like I can improve other people’s fashion and like I get to meet new nice people. Another reason why I like working there is because I get good money for the amount of effort I work so I don’t really do much I just have to stand there and help out the customers so sometimes the customers sometimes when the customers walk in I be making conversation with them and like there mostly really funny and like good to hang out with. Not to hang out with but like to help them like how do I say this…like to help them… to help them be confident about what they can wear because some of the girls that  I’ve helped some of them like I be like in the store we smell we sell sorry we sell little tops and some of the girls are big and they feel like they aren’t comfortable enough to wear that in public because of how people are now days but I always tell them to be confident about themselves and that in the end of the day it makes me happy because they always end up taking the little top that before walking into the store they would never wear but now they’re wearing it because I feel like every person deserves to be um confident in their own body and how they wanna dress because it’s their bodies.

AH: Mhm I like that you’re spreading body positivity.

JP: Yes.

AH: To people who might not feel comfortable in their body. Um but other than that like more about you now like about your personal life like how’s life going for you.

JP: Life is going pretty good for me because when I’m not at school or work I’m always going out with my friends to parties, to have a good time, and make many memories and if not my friends come over my house at night and we just hangout and laugh at little stuff that happened to us and just talk about memories like I’m sixteen, I’m never going to be sixteen every again so for me the way I see it, I’m only sixteen once, I just wanna live my best life and like have fun.

AH: Ya I like that it’s like having, you like never get younger and-

JP: Ya it’s like I’m never going to go back to my age that I was before because I can’t back to the past I’m just going more into the future so I just wanna live like my best life because you never know what’s going to happen in the future so that’s why I like to go out and just have fun and make good memories.

AH: I like that it’s like, that’s very grown to say. Um other than that is there like is there anything that makes you happy.

JP: Ya some of the things that make me happy is my puppy, family, and friends.

AH: Um can you like elaborate on that?

JP: Yes, when I’m with them there’s nothing but laughter, happiness, and the creations of best memories. One of the happiest memories I remember is getting from my friend who gave her to me last minute and the day of April fools without my parents permission. At first they talked about not wanting to keep her because we already have another dog named lulu and our house where I live is pretty small so it’s like they were telling me that there’s isn’t enough space to have another puppy when we can barely handle or like we barely have space for my first dog we have, but at the end of the day I convinced them to let her stay with us and I ended up keep her.

AH: That’s really nice cause I know that Lulu she been like kinda lonely and like-

JP: Oh ya and she is getting old so we bought her a lil friend when though they fight here and there but they still get along.

AH: [laugh] Okay now for something more deeper into the conversation, is there like any advice you would give to people who are younger than you?

JP: Ya one advice I would give to people who are younger than me is to not change yourself  for others because you never know if they will or are going to take advantage or change for the worse. Another thing is to do whatever makes you happy so you don’t any regrets in the future because you do only live once and I feel like as long as you’re happy that’s all that matters. Don’t put nobodies feelings in front of yours or don’t put your feelings at the side just to make other people proud for people that won’t even do the same thing for you that you do to them because some people do take advantage of that so you just have to keep an eye out on who are your real friends and who you really trust.

AH: I like that cause having like people that are just fake to you can be like really harmful to cause like you never know what happens, you never know what can happen in the future or like how people could change.

JP: Yes like if you’re being mean to somebody it’s obvi, obviou, sorry obviously going to affect the person that you’re being mean to because you never know what they’re really going through and why would you wanna make a person feel worse then what they’re already feeling when you can help out that person and be a better person not only for other people and for the environment but also for you.

AH: Well those are all the questions that I asked so thank you very much for doing this interview I know it was kinda last minute.

JP: Nah it’s fine. 

AH: Thank you just for being here and talking about this. 

JP: Of course.

AH: Okay.