Scholar Athlete: Darian Barrera, Holy Cross High School

SAN ANTONIO – Meet Instant Replay’s newest Scholar Athlete of the Week, Darian Barrera of Holy Cross High School.

Darian has been playing softball for Holy Cross since the sixth-grade. She was a member of the team that won the TAPPS Division III State Championship this year, the first softball team to accomplish this since Holy Cross became co-educational. She’s a member of the National Honor Society, the Robotics Club, the Student Council, the Student Leadership Club and is a school ambassador. Darian maintains a 4.0 GPA and is ranked first in her class. Darian will be attending Angelo State University and plans to become a veterinarian.

WHAT WAS THE SENIOR YEAR LIKE?

“It was a tough year especially with online school. It was a struggle with time management but I figured it out eventually. It took a couple of tries to get a schedule in and I got used to it and turned my work in. It was exciting (playing softball this season) since last season was canceled. I’m glad to graduate with all the honors and awards I received this year. It kind of makes up for all the lost time during high school.”

WHAT MEMORIES DO YOU HAVE LEAVING HIGH SCHOOL?

“I would say being able to come back to school especially for practice after school. This is when everything happens for sports so it was nice to come back to campus even though it was just practice. I was the only senior on the softball team so I had to have some leadership and it was hard because I’m a quiet person. Once I cooperated with the girls, they knew what I wanted so it became easier to be a leader.”

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR YOUR FELLOW STUDENTS?

“This pandemic and everything that changed is going to end soon enough, you have to learn to be patient and it’s going to be hard but take it one day at a time.”

Daniel P. Villanueva has worked with KSAT 12 for over 18 years and is an award-winning producer. To submit story ideas, email dvillanueva@ksat.com