Melissa Mendez is a 16-year-old junior currently attending Birmingham Community Charter High School. She was born on March 3rd, 2009, in Van Nuys, California, but has faint memories of growing up in Atlanta, Georgia. Melissa has an older sister who recently graduated from Birmingham, and a younger brother who also attends Birmingham with her. Both of Melissa’s parents were born in Mexico, her father born in Zacatecas, and her mother from San Luis Potosí. Apart from her family, Melissa spends time alone enjoying her daily hobbies, but she mainly enjoys being with her closest friends. Throughout her life, Melissa has had many opportunities to visit states such as Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, and New Mexico, which has fueled her interest in traveling. Being part of Birmingham has helped Melissa both academically and has supported her through her love of sports.

Starting her freshman year, Melissa joined both the Birmingham volleyball team and the girls’ beach volleyball team. Melissa was introduced to volleyball by one of her best friends during middle school. With a small amount of experience playing volleyball, she eagerly tried out for the team at Birmingham and made the team. Even though she first started out playing volleyball, beach volleyball quickly became her favorite. Although the beach volleyball program had started a year before she entered high school, all of her teammates were very welcoming. Having the opportunity to play beach volleyball with one of her best friends as her partner was the best part of her season. After being on the volleyball team for 2 years, Melissa ultimately decided to quit playing to focus on her grades. Since beach volleyball is in season during the 2nd semester, she is hoping to join the team for her 3rd year. Other than volleyball, something that she enjoys to do the most in school is math. Since she was young,

This is Melissa’s first year writing for The Patriot Post,