{"id":128861,"date":"2026-05-13T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-julianne-vega-maximizing-her-high-school-experience\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T15:50:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T21:50:15","slug":"dolores-julianne-vega-maximizing-her-high-school-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-julianne-vega-maximizing-her-high-school-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolores\u2019 Julianne Vega maximizing her high school experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dolores
Dolores senior Julianne Vega has enjoyed a high school career full of countless experiences in performing arts, athletics, leadership and academia. Photo courtesy of Julianne Vega<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

DOLORES \u2013 Over the past four years, any Montezuma County resident attending a local high school sporting event or theater production had a pretty good chance of catching Julianne Vega in action.<\/p>\n

The Bears senior has made her mark in just about every way possible \u2013 and is savoring each opportunity for every step of the way.<\/p>\n

Vega recently closed the chapter on some of her final high school activities, performing as the title character in \u201cAlice in Wonderland\u201d for the Dolores Theater Troupe, while also striking her final putts for the DHS golf team. Her list of credits is a mind-boggling combination of music, theater, sports, and academia, making a bystander wonder if Vega found the secret formula to finding a 25th hour in the day.<\/p>\n

\"Dolores
Dolores senior Julianne Vega has enjoyed a high school career full of countless experiences in performing arts, athletics, leadership and academia. Photo courtesy of Julianne Vega<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

But for the four-year DHS class president and member of the National Honor Society, pushing any of her activities off to the side is off the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remind myself why I\u2019m doing each of these things, evaluating what each contributes to my life,\u201d said Vega, \u201cI don\u2019t do them \u2018just to do them,\u2019 I have a passion for all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vega\u2019s multipotentiality takes center stage \u2013 literally \u2013 for the Dolores Theater Troupe, for which Vega has performed a dozen shows over her high school career. Her favorite part involved her role as Hermia in \u201cA Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream\u201d from her junior year \u2013 a production that she loved for its brilliant script, set, choreography and an opportunity for her \u201cto have fun running around the stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Golf has been a different kind of challenge for Vega, but just like in her performing arts pursuits, refining her craft takes time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to make improvements anywhere I can and also celebrate the little things,\u201d said Vega. \u201cGolf has the way to bring out the best and worst in yourself. It\u2019s unlike any of the other things that I\u2019ve done at DHS. I\u2019ve learned how to be proud of myself, and that\u2019s one of the most important things I can do for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dolores
Dolores senior Julianne Vega has enjoyed a high school career full of countless experiences in performing arts, athletics, leadership and academia. Photo courtesy of Julianne Vega<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Included in those mini-victories is an appreciation for her beautiful surroundings, even on days when her swing may not be cooperating,<\/p>\n

In the meantime, she\u2019s found another layer of connection to many of her teammates, many of whom also happen to share some of her other extracurricular interests. When Dolores girls golf split off from M-CHS and started its own program two years ago, Vega jumped at the chance to play for the Bears, in part to deepen those connections with her peers.<\/p>\n

\"Dolores
Dolores senior Julianne Vega has enjoyed a high school career full of countless experiences in performing arts, athletics, leadership and academia. Photo courtesy of Julianne Vega<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

She still spent plenty of time in orange and black, too, playing trumpet for the M-CHS Marching Panthers, along with their Jazz and Symphonic Bands. She\u2019s also joined the pit orchestra for theater productions at M-CHS and The Lamp Post in Cortez.<\/p>\n

Much like her golf exploits, Vega\u2019s Knowledge Bowl experience allowed her an opportunity to travel all over the region, and to spend time with her friends \u2013 sharing laughs on the bus rides and in the middle of competition, regardless of the end results of the meets themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough all of these opportunities, the best thing I can take from them is the relationships beyond high school,\u201d reflected Vega. \u201cThe people, my teammates, teachers, and coaches, make this journey what its been.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vega is set to head to Boulder this upcoming fall, where she hopes to instill her own love for learning with future generations with plans to study elementary education at the University of Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to be able to look back and say \u2018Wow,\u2019 I\u2019ve learned so much from all of these experiences,\u201d\u2019 said Vega. \u201cIt\u2019s taught me the joy of trying new things.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/element><\/element><\/element><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

finds way to balance golf, performing arts, knowledge bowl and classroom leadership<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":128862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6313],"tags":[38,39,28,37,36,6419],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-128861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports-2","tag-dolores-high-school","tag-dove-creek-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-mancos-high-school","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school","tag-tj-trueanthem"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128861"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128923,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128861\/revisions\/128923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128861"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=128861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}