Haya Rios, Downey, California

My favorite subject at school is PE because you get to play different sports. My hobbies are reading, watching TV, and listening to music. I am a girl with a lot of energy. I love to make people laugh and smile. On the other hand, I am a very sensitive, smart and caring person. I really care for others.

	TIME Cover Story Being Thirteen What's on their minds? TIME takes an inside look at an age of mystery and challenge Thirteens on Thirteen Thirteen-year olds share their reflections Marissa Anderson Ariel DeNeve Jeffrey Dirkin Calvin Streit Haya Rios Jessica Gonzalez Duresny Nemorin Armaan Rowther Rose Buchberg Katherine Rack Joseph Charles Brandon Close Briana Katz

Since I have a hearing loss, I have to wear two hearing aids everyday. It is embarrassing for me to wear them at school. Most other kids my age don't have to wear them. I know how to talk and use sign language. It is hard work trying to learn to speak clearly. It is especially hard to say sounds like 's' and 't'.

At school I am mainstreamed with hearing students most of the day. I am a good student, but I have to work very hard. I have an interpreter in class. The positive is that my interpreter helps me to understand what the teacher and the other kids in the class are saying. The negative is that having an interpreter is like having a dog follow me everywhere. How many other kids my age have an adult with them in every class?

I have one class with all deaf students. I like being with other deaf kids because the teacher in that class knows how to sign. Having a class with kids and a teacher who know sign makes things easier to understand. Also I can communicate with the teacher using sign language. I don't have to use an interpreter. It is much easier for me to communicate using sign.

I have a lot of friends. I have both hearing friends and deaf friends. With my hearing friends, I talk. They want to learn to sign mostly to communicate with me and get to know me. With my deaf friends, it is so much easier and so much fun. We can talk about everything non-stop. I don't have to struggle to communicate with them. So I do like to have both kinds of friends.

I love my family very much. They take good care of me. They love me and want me to do well in school. My grades are very important to me because they are very important to my parents and my school. I will always have respect for my family, my friends, and my teachers.

Next year I will go to high school. I am a little nervous about it. I will continue to go to classes with hearing kids, but I hope I can have some classes with deaf kids too. I don't know exactly what will happen in the future. I hope to go to college. Maybe I will get a scholarship. We will see, but for now I plan to keep learning and growing.