Senior Spotlight: Pioneer Academy’s Dolce Perez

A big challenge for today’s teenage students is balancing going to school and doing well, maintaining a decent job and managing the many social demands of friends and family. Pioneer Academy’s Senior Spotlight and the student of the month for April, Dolce Perez, has spent the last few years perfecting this balancing act to find her ultimate happiness in life.

Dolce is a Jumpstart student taking dual credit courses from Western Nevada College (WNC). She has completed all her graduation requirements and is now focusing on second and third level accounting classes. After graduation from Pioneer, Dolce plans to finish her associate of science from WNC then transfer to University of Nevada, Reno to earn a degree in accounting. Dolce also plans to become a certified licensed Esthetician. She enjoys working with numbers and tracking and recording data to make it useful but she also likes the creative, ever-changing world of makeup and skin therapy. Dolce recognizes that these are two very different interests but both give her tremendous satisfaction. And she is confident she will be able to bring both into her life.

Maintaining a quality balance of school, work and life has not been easy. Dolce said she had to learn how to multitask to accomplish many of her goals and to help her find her joy. “I’ve learned to prioritize my happiness a little more and spend time with friends and family,” she said. Many of those friends and family members are a large part of her support network and are the reason the direction of her career interest. Dolce credits her supervisors Stan and Wendy for giving her the confidence by trusting her in her accounting position and planting the seed to become an accountant. She is also thankful for her family for always pushing her to do more for herself and never letting her quit on herself when things were difficult.

The Jumpstart program has made a major impact on Dulce’s direction and motivation, and she thanks Mr. Jordan for challenging her to take on dual credit courses and having faith that she would be successful. Dulce also wanted to thank Mrs. Council for not only helping her be successful in navigating the world of online learning, but also being available for emotional support through many of the difficult times over the past few years. Dolce is a bright spotlight for the Pioneer family and we are proud of her accomplishments and we look forward to much more in her future.