Rosie Cruz: Surfer Extraordinaire With a positive attitude and an air of confidence that is hard not to notice, Rosaline Mary Cruz, who prefers “Rosie,” is easy to focus on as the subject of my interview. Tall with brown hair and a matching tan, she easily fits in as a Miramonte student. She looks like she could be comfortable almost anywhere, as her experiences and travels certainly prove. When I ask about her thoughts on Miramonte, she says, “It makes me feel like a more independent person. You’re not judged by who you are.” However, there can be no doubt that Rosie already is an independent person, who wouldn’t care in the least if other people judged her. A skilled surfer, she has surfed the waves of the California coast and Hawaii, with Hawaii as clear favorite. “California’s just too cold,” she shrugs. Other that that, Rosie loves to play soccer. She spent most of her time doing it over the summer, when she wasn’t hanging out with friends. Her favorite day of the summer was going to the beach and surfing with her friends. Her worst? The day before summer ended. “I was really nervous,” she says.
Everyone’s nervous before school starts, but fortunately there’s no need to be too apprehensive. “I heard that it was scary,” Rosie says. And now that she’s here? “I still am scared.” Okay, maybe it does take a little while to get used to things here. Fortunately, Miramonte teachers make the transition easier. “I think they’re really nice,” she said, “but challenging.” Before Miramonte, she attended OIS. Rosie has lived in Orinda since she was three. Before that, she lived in Lafayette. Her favorite subjects are biology and English.
She is also taking French. “My whole family speaks Spanish and so I grew up speaking it. English is my second language,” she says. Enjoying
