Throughout her years at Hunterdon Central, Melissa Armenta Quiroz, a senior, has encountered many ups and downs. Melissa loves helping people in any way and plays an active role at Central as a Red Devil Ambassador, an organization that helps incoming students and actively represents the school. She is also a leader of Third Wave, the gender equality club at Hunterdon Central, which she has been a part of since freshman year. Additionally, she is a member of Rho Kappa and the German Honor Society. Although her passions lie in history and world language, Melissa also likes to branch out and explore new things. 

More recently, Melissa has been intrigued by Astrology and Meteorology and is interested to further her education regarding the subjects. Over quarantine, Melissa discovered a love for baking. While her banana bread is known to taste Food-Network-chef worthy, one of her biggest goals is to work on her cake decorating skills and to achieve a frog cake. She also is obsessed with matcha — her go-to drink is an iced matcha latte with almond milk. She recently tried a matcha blondie and is eager to replicate it at home. In her free time, she enjoys discovering new coffee shops with her friends.

Out of all her activities, Third Wave has a special place in Melissa’s heart. It sparked an interest in gender studies and learning more about gender equality. It has helped her grow as a person and has increased her awareness of social issues around the world. Throughout her journey at Hunterdon Central, she has made countless friends and memories and is excited for her future in STEM. Though she has not settled on a career yet, engineering has sparked an interest. For now, she hopes to get through her senior year with her friends, and she awaits the exciting possibilities of the near future.