Mia De La Cerda taking a selfie in a car.

Photo Credits: Mia De La Cerda

By Audrey Huynh

May 11, 2023

SAN JOSE, CALIF.– Senior Mia De La Cerda reflects back on her first year on the Raider Review staff and how it has been an outlet for her to express her creativity.

Although having heard of the school paper before, what really inspired her to join the Journalism class as well as the Raider Review was her friend, Gabryela Reynoso. A few of De La Cerda’s friends were already in the class in their Junior year, which further solidified her decision to get involved with the paper for her Senior year.

Prior to becoming a Raider Review writer, De La Cerda enjoyed reading news articles and writing. She found the different styles between articles and essays interesting, and wanted to experiment writing with AP Style, which is what reporters use when writing for the papers. 

De La Cerda quickly found that Journalism was much easier than her regular English classes. She delighted in how the Raider Review was an opportunity to convey her creativity. She especially loved writing HOSC, Humans of Silver Creek, articles. It was an easy way to get to know someone while interviewing them.

Aside from being able to freely write, De La Cerda also expressed her love for the class. “I really like how [the class] mirrors real journalism,” De La Cerda says. She found that the structure of the writing and publishing process for the Raider Review compelling, considering how similar the class is to the professional papers. She admires the system of how staff writers submit their articles to the appropriate editors for review and to receive feedback and add to their writing.

De La Cerda strongly recommends Journalism to anyone who enjoys writing. She finds that the class is an easy way to practice time management with all the different deadlines to keep track of. One piece of advice she would give to those interested is to get on top of article cycles since it is easy to slip and miss a due date. She also considers the friendly and close environment in which the writers collaborate to complete their assignments is yet another upside to the class.

De La Cerda certainly has had an unusual high school experience, but she is grateful for it nonetheless. With COVID interrupting her Freshman year and having a heavy impact on her Sophomore and Junior years, she’s had a lot of difficulties with all the hurdles the pandemic has brought. She highlights adjusting to learning on a screen as one of the biggest challenges she faced. However, she expresses how meeting her friends has been one of the best experiences of her four years of high school. According to her, meeting and growing with them has been her favorite adventure.

After graduating from Silver Creek High School, De La Cerda will be attending California State University, Monterey Bay. Although she will be studying kinesiology, De La Cerda expresses a desire to find an occupation in the nutritional science field, particularly a dietitian. Kinesiology is the study of human body movement, whereas a dietitian works with how food affects the body. “I don’t really know why I’m so interested in becoming a dietitian. I’m just really interested in that field,” De La Cerda says.