Nayeli Perez remembers that in the eighth grade she wanted to be a marine biologist. She was sure that in the future she would be a scientist that studied ocean acidification. That was until two years later, when she changed her mind and wanted to be a zookeeper. One year after that, she thought she finally settled on being a veterinarian. While her dream career changed often, the common denominator was always science.

Then as a junior at the Academy at Palumbo, Nayeli took Journalism as an elective and became confused. Did she want to be a journalist?

The journalism class at her school was oriented around digital storytelling, specifically videos. Nayeli enjoys watching mini documentaries from Vice and late night show Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and knew that she wanted her videos to include humor and informative storytelling.

Her most-produced video centered around the student walkouts that came in the wake of the 2018 school shooting in Parkland. It took over a month to write, set up interviews, edit, film, and edit some more, but Nayeli is very proud of what she was able to create.

Now, with the help of the Acel Moore High School Journalism Workshop, she very clearly sees a future in journalism, specifically in photography and film, for herself.