Humans of Harker: Angel Cervantes chases his goals

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Julia Amick

“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren’t going to get those championships if you aren’t fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”

by Nicole Chen and Julia Amick

For everything Angel Cervantes (12) does, he looks to the future for inspiration and motivation. And the harder his goals are to achieve, the better.

“I do [everything] because I have a goal in mind. It doesn’t bother me that my goals are really high. The higher they are, the harder I have to work. I do it because once I reach those goals it will be extremely satisfying because I can look back ,and it’s kind of like a movie,” Angel said. “League finals was one of those moments, and I looked back and saw how far I had come. It’s not easy but I know the end goal is going to be satisfying.”

Angel uses this mindset in all facets of his life, especially in athletics, and he constantly strives to fulfill all his goals, both academic and athletic.

“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren’t going to get those championships if you aren’t fast,” he said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”

Whenever he is faced with adversity, Angel takes the experience and transforms it into a learning opportunity that ultimately helps him work towards his goals rather than hinder him from reaching them.

“I remember my first race. My coach put me as a time that I hadn’t run [12.5 seconds]. I was like coach thinks I can run a 12.5, so I’m going to run that 12.5,” Angel said. “ I ran the race, and I ended up getting last, and I ran a 13.2. After that race I was so upset… In my head, I was like I can’t run this time again. I just realized that I need to work to get where I want to be. That’s really where I figured out that it wasn’t going to come easy. That time wasn’t going to define my work. After that season, I was a 12.3.”

Angel’s athleticism also translates to his football career, where he has made long-lasting friendships with his teammates.

“I grew with the [football] team, especially since freshman year because each year we were getting closer to our main goal, which was winning a championship,” he said. “With that, we had hours of practicing with the team, and it just really shows to value your relationships with your friends because you go through a lot with them. It’s really important to me because I want to see how there doing and what they’re doing especially on the field and in the classroom.”

Angel has learned to appreciate the relationships he creates not only in sports but also in his everyday life. His experience transferring to Harker in freshman year taught him to value friendships on a deeper level.

“In high school, creating relationships can be really intimidating,” Angel said. “Especially freshman year, I was obviously going to a new school, and I wanted to go to a school with all of my friends from middle school. So, I learned from middle school and my family that I really just needed to care about people and value relationships.”

In the end, despite Angel’s prominent role as an athlete on campus, he hopes to be remembered for his approachability and friendship for those around him.

“I take a lot of people under my wing because I want them to do well,” he said. “I just want to help my teammates and actually anyone. If anyone has questions or needs advice, I just want [them to think] ‘Oh, Angel is nice.’ I think sometimes people think that I am intimidating. But, I think I’m pretty soft on the inside. I just want to be seen as a leader that cares for everyone.”