For my spotlight, I chose Malakai Torres, a football player who has grown up in Parlier his whole life. I asked where he was born. Malakai said he was born in Reedley, California. He said he went to Matthew J. Berletic for elementary school and Parlier Junior High before coming to Parlier High. He fell in love with football when he was little and has played ever since. He first started playing in Sanger, and now he plays for Parlier High School. One of the hardest parts of being a student-athlete for Malakai is getting all his schoolwork done on time and trying to get enough sleep. He said that being in both football and the early college course makes it hard to balance everything and keep up good grades. If he could play a different sport, he would choose baseball because it’s fun and he played last year. His favorite teacher at PHS is Mr. Caldwell because he’s nice and makes learning fun. Malakai would tell his freshman self to turn in work on time and not wait until the last minute. After graduation, he plans to go to Fresno State to earn his master’s degree in teaching. In ten years, he hopes to be a teacher working at Parlier High, married, and living in his dream house with his dream car.
