In a swirling and sometimes chaotic year, happening in a swirling and sometimes chaotic world, Angel Ventura works to hold the center steady. Angel has centered his life around taking care of others and surrounding himself and his family with strong, loving relationships. When asked how he sustained himself and coped during the pandemic, Angel told us he stayed grounded by “making sure my family was safe and always had everything they needed.”

We asked Angel to share with us three things he would tell his younger self and he responded with, “Pay attention in school. Accept the extra help that’s offered. And stop skipping class.” Now we all contain multitudes, and where we leap and where we land are hopefully different places, as our dreams and the skills to pursue them continue to grow and deepen as we develop ourselves and our lives. And this road to attainment is not paved with smooth perfection but rather with our abilities to navigate the inevitable bumps. And so this loving, caretaking, young person Angel has met the challenges of tough times in school, capped off with a senior pandemic year, and successfully graduated and has now decided to continue his service to his family and his community by joining the police academy.

Like many, Angel struggled mightily with virtual, pandemic schooling, telling us, “Virtual school was awful for me cause I didn’t have the extra one on one support like I did when I had in person.” However, despite the numerous disruptions and difficulties of virtual schooling, Angel tenaciously persevered, managing difficult assignments, making space and time to work, trying to get help, trying to push through, and so it was, this spring, surrounded with the love and support of his family, Angel graduated. It was a family affair in more ways than one and Angel infact listed his proudest accomplishment as being able to graduate with his niece, Stepahnie. His family showed up to our shoot, smiles a mile wide, and lots of graduation flair to take pictures with. They brought him the golden “2” and “1” to commemorate how their beloved Angel, and his beloved niece Stephanie and, by extension, their whole beloved family, have made it to the top of this 2021 graduation mountain.

Please join us in celebrating Angel’s graduation and the wide circle of family and community connection that helped him get there. Let us hold him and his family up as they ready for their next chapters.