After attending St. Therese Church and School most of his life, the next obvious step in education for senior Alejandro Perez Welty was going to La Salle.

However, he ended up going to Centennial High School for his freshman year, an experience which serves to motivate him when he’s struggling now and remind him of the importance of working hard for his goals. Perez Welty ended up transferring to La Salle, and started attending the school sophomore year. 

At a young age, he joined Scouting America — previously known as Boy Scouts. Although he was initially more reserved, he gradually grew more comfortable through the help of older scouts, and through experience, he learned when it was appropriate to mess around and when he needed to set a good example. 

Despite starting out disorganized and messy with his things, his experience in the Scouts also helped him develop responsibility and resilience.

“As I would go on, I would learn to distinguish when it’s a good time to mess around, when it’s good to be serious,” he said. “It really helped build up my responsibility as well, because on a lot of camp outs, I used to be … kind of a disorganized person…  But as I kept going on campouts and stuff, I learned ‘This is how I pack my bag. This is where I put my stuff.’”

On a recent campout, he was camping with his troop on Mount Hood during heavy snow. When morning came, his was the only tent still standing; his experience and resilience had allowed him to successfully tend to the tent throughout the night, he said.

One fellow scout in particular, Adam, left a lasting impression on him and helped develop his skills. 

“He would just tell me stuff, show me stuff — gave me a lot of lessons that helped me,” he said. 

The scouts as a whole helped inspire him and his continued dedication, he said, a sense that he wants to help pass down to younger scouts.

Now, Perez Welty enjoys mentoring kids around his community, at Lot Whitcomb Elementary, and through Scouting America. He does his best to support younger kids especially when they are struggling, he said, because he understands and has lived through similar situations.

Academically, his current favorite class is Art Foundations because of his classmates and his appreciation for art teacher Ms. Cha Asokan. He also enjoys many classes related to the arts, including Advanced Acting and Production, Intro to Theater, Guitar, and Innovation and Design. These classes have helped him build a community and grow lasting friendships, he said.

His all-time favorite class is Advanced Acting and Production, because it has given him the opportunity to plan and host the Sheltonies, which is the theater department’s award ceremony.

“We all became a lot closer as friends,” he said. 

Storytelling has a big influence on Perez Welty’s life. He played the swing role of Seymour in the recent La Salle production of Little Shop of Horrors and is a big part of the theater crew. “Top Gun Maverick” is currently his favorite movie as he finds it has great cinematography and a high-quality story. 

“I just really liked it, like the cinematography and this story was really fun,” he said. “I think it was a really good sequel to the original story.”

Because of his interest in storytelling, he’s considering doing writing or photography in the future.

His advice to his younger self is to be proactive and to be bold: to not be too scared to try new things and to be confident in himself.

The biggest lesson he learned from his friends at Scouting America is “don’t think about the end,” he said.

“Just think of every step is one step closer, one less step you have to take,” he said.