Malia Rodriguez is a junior this year and is one of Knight Writer's Fun Coordinators. As Fun Coordinator she plans events and parties for journalism staff. She has been on staff for the past three years. “I like to have fun here, in newspaper," she said. "It can be kind of a stressful environment, so a lot of my job comes with team building. I plan a lot of parties. We do parties for every holiday for every print issue, to keep it a bit happier.” Recently, Malia has written “Cigarettes After Sex’s “X” Blends Familiar Sounds with New Themes” for the Knight Writer’s website. Most of her pieces are A&E or opinions; she says one of her favorite things about newspaper is the community.  “I really enjoy having a place that's so accepting and welcoming. We have a lot of different people in this class. Especially when I joined, we had a lot of different people in this class: IB, traditional, preppy, emo. The nature of the elective kind of forces you to be together,” Rodriguez said.  Ever since she was little, she has taken some form of dance. She found dance by seeing her cousin do it and wished to do it too. She started in more contemporary dance styles and only stayed in those for a few years. Once she did ballet, though, she fell in love with it and has been doing it for four years. “At my studio doesn’t typically do big productions, we just do a recital at the end of the year. I would love to, though; if an opportunity came up, I would absolutely take it,” Rodriguez said.  A crafty person, she chooses to do different types of art in her free time. She does cross stitch, crocheting and builds miniatures. Currently she is working on a yarn project for her mom. She was taught by her grandmother how to crochet and cross stitching. “Every time I would go up there [her grandmother’s house] she [her grandmother] would be teaching me a different craft,” Rodriguez said. "They are definitely old lady hobbies, but I like them, and I think they're fun.” Working in animal rescue has appealed to Rodriguez as a way to obtain service hours. She works at a cat rescue center that she came across in her search for places to do service hours. She received training and then started to work with the kittens. “I’m really passionate about animals and rescuing animals,” Rodriguez said. “They are innocent animals that need protection.”