Israel Marquez is the kind of person who people can rely on and trust. Israel felt like there were both good and bad times throughout his high school experience, and like many of us has bitter sweet memories.

“I loved high school, but then there was sometimes where I hated high school as well,” Marquez said. 

Israel plans on attending Portland State University and majoring in film. Marquez plans to major in film because he has been fascinated by the art from childhood,

“I was little I’ve always been in love with films. In 2012 I went to Disney world and there was a museum where it had all of Walt Disney’s work,” Marquez says.

From that point on it inspired Israel more to pursue his dreams and work in film from then on. Israel is wanting to become a cinematography director or a film producer.

Marquez wants to go to Portland State University because “I’ve always loved the weather over there, but it was also close to family members as well,” Marquez said.

Israel was not only accepted to Portland State University, but also Full Sail University in Florida and he just recently got accepted into San Francisco University. With that he got a scholarship of 72,000 dollars. From here Israel is now unsure of where he will be attending college.

Throughout the four years of attending Montrose high school Israel joined many groups through his high school years. He joined LULAC his freshman year and didn’t really get into it until this year. As a senior, he took on a major leadership role and helped the club sponsor, Becky Moreno, organize events.

“I had the honor to be in LULAC this past year and it has been the best experience and I loved it so much,” Marquez said. “I was able to make new friends and meet new people.  I was able to help throughout the community and spread diversity. I regret not taking it my other years but I had the best time of my life.”

Marching band was a big part of Israel’s life in high school. Israel plays tenor saxophone and has been playing for about eight years now.

“My favorite memory of marching band was all of the competitions we were able to go to,” Marquez says.

Marquez enjoys spending time with his friends and family. He likes to either watch movies with them or bake.

“I made some of my best friends in marching band. The competitions gave me the feeling that I was good at something and I would get recognized for it,” Marquez said. Israel finally felt like he fit in somewhere and was able to be himself without worrying about what others thought of him.