Malakah Martinez, Nursing Her Dreams Through Adversity
Malakah Martinez, Nursing Her Dreams Through Adversity
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the leading scorer for the Del Norte Knights basketball team, earning first team All Metro and first team All District honors, in her last year as a Knight.
Early in the track and field season, Malakah was chosen to compete at the Marilyn Sepulveda track meet, a meet that showcases New Mexico’ s best track athletes. Malakah was a shining star as she would set a meet and school record for the 400 meter run.
In the state track meet she was a member of the 4 x 400 state champion relay team, and again broke her newly set school record in winning the 400 meter run.
The Del Norte Knight track star redirected her focus to her next major decision, what college she would attend. The three colleges she entertained attending were, Adam State University in Alamosa, Colorado, San Diego State, in San Diego, California, and Metropolitan State in Denver, Colorado.
Malakah ended up choosing Adam State over the other offers because she felt Adam State presented for her, the best opportunity to continue to run track and pursue a career in nursing.
According to Malakah, the reason the nursing program played such an important role in her decision was anchored in personal reasons.“ My interest in nursing stems from the fact that I have some very close family members who are dealing with serious illnesses. This resulted in me having to spend a lot of time in hospitals. Then my grandmother and other family members had become nurses. It intrigued me in such a way, that I determined early on that the field of nursing is the profession that I would choose.”
Malakah comes from an athletic family. She has 2 brothers and a sister who have all been athletes. Malakah’ s choice of sports, basketball and track and field, are actually the same sports that her mother, Elizabeth, participated in as an athlete when she attended Artesia high school.
However, it’ s another athlete in the family that Malakah credits for much of her success as a track athlete.“ It was my aunt Carolyn who trained my cousins and me to be track athletes. She was a track star in high school in Artesia, and she would invite us to come stay with her and train. Not only did we enjoy those sessions, but the sessions gave us confidence.”
Malakah will now take a 3.5 grade point average, and years of great track and field success at Del Norte High School, north to Colorado, to continue to pursue her dreams of eventually becoming a nurse, and an Olympic athlete.
David Cormier a Multi-talented Athlete
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the other programs.”
Cormier will be focusing only on football at the Air Force Academy, and hesitantly shared that he may look at running track as well. Cormier is an outstanding young man who will always encounter success. The fact that he was a successful three sport athlete tells you a lot about his dedication to service. He will always push himself harder than any coach will, and will always go the extra mile to accomplish the task. He is a model of success.
Occasionally you will run across a success story that continues to rise. No matter whether he is in the classroom, on the football field, or soaring through the skies in a jet plane, David Cormier is the type of young man whose potential will exceed your imaginations, and then his accomplishments will leave even more amazed. www. oaaa. state. nm. us 32