Almond Queen Princess Desiree Cruz-Sampson, 16, credits her smile to her former third grade teacher at Colony Oak School, Karen Treick, who she said instilled the importance of a smile and being courteous to everyone, even to those you don’t know.
“She went out of her way to teach us manners,” Desiree said.
At Ripon High School she had to choose between wrestling and soccer as her favorite sport.  She chose wrestling saying it was actually more fun adding that the boys treated her like one of the guys.  There aren’t too many girls out for wrestling, she added.
She noted that her mother is a radiologist at Kaiser in Modesto. She hopes to also go into medicine and become either a neurologist or an anesthesiologist.  She hopes to attend the University of Melbourne finding the thought of studying abroad very interesting.
With her school work and her passion for wrestling, she still finds time to do a few chores around home, she said, like doing the dishes and cleaning her own room.  Her older sister Kaydee, 19, is already in college majoring in Psychology at MJC in Modesto, she added.

To contact Glenn Kahl, email gkahl@mantecabulletin.com.