My name is Valerio Cruz, I’m seventeen years old and I attend Chelsea Vocational High School. I am in the Soho Communications Art Academy. I’m currently a senior and my favorite subject is math. I’m planning to attend college after graduation.

I was born in Brooklyn but I was raised in the Lower East Side (Manhattan), but my parents are from the Dominican Republic. I am fluent in Spanish, but I consider English my first language. I live with my parents and I’m the youngest out of four children.

In my spare time, I like playing basketball, using computers, listening to music and playing video games. I have a passion for the game of basketball. I played varsity basketball at East Side Community when I was a sophomore. I hope someday to play professional basketball and join the National Basketball Association (NBA).
      
Since this summer I’ve been doing community service called Challenge The Norm. In this program we had mini activities and conversations about women abuse. We created T-shirts to send a message that abusing women is a wring thing to do.I’m unsure about the career I want, for now I’m focusing on graduating and getting my High School diplo