What's in a Name?

Anthony Rodriquez

Anthony Rodriquez- Italian (mother); Puerto Rican (father); Anthony Rodriquez is a down-to-earth and intelligent student at the middle school who is described as being loyal, supportive, and helpful and known for his cleverness and foresight. Somewhat quiet and reserved, he has a bookish demeanor and is recognized almost instantaneously by his peers for his sharp mind and penchant for learning and processing new information. He can repeatedly be found absorbing new knowledge while reading a text from the school's library and has interests in science, music, and mathematics. He is prying, observant, and eager to help, showing deep insights into others and an uncanny ability to understand every single truth and aspect about a person. Anthony is generally friendly towards everyone he meets as well and is very nondiscriminatory, choosing to maintain an open mind with others rather than treat them with prejudice or animosity. Because of his genuine nature and kind heart, he tries to be inclusive of the people he encounters and react patiently towards them. He is characterized for his tendency to go out of the way to defend his peers if things go out of hand and gives every person he encounters a fair chance. Always quick to support and stand up for those he values, he takes ownership for his actions and values giving and receiving constructive criticism as a means of personal growth. Docile, polite and disciplined, Anthony willingly adheres to the laws and regulations of his community and with his love and desire for order, he occasionally undertakes the role of a peacemaker. He is a generally well-respected, if not appreciated, member of his peer group, although he is sometimes a bit awkward in his interactions, particularly with people of the opposite sex.

He will go great lengths to cleanse his environment and exhibits numerous idiosyncrasies, among these odd habits being his tendency to name tag his every possession, to the extent of claiming to "not be able to rest in an unlabeled setting." He has a significant dislike of sports as well, rooted perhaps from an infamous, scarcely mentioned kickball incident from his childhood. Anthony is also considered a great conversationalist, as he tends to ask a lot of questions and can speak intelligently about seemingly anything. He is rational and appears to have more mature interests than his classmates, making him empathetic and understanding as he tries to encourage others during difficult times. Despite being relatively friendly and upbeat while interacting with his peers, he can be somewhat short-tempered and overly passionate when voicing some of his opinions, holding very strong values and becoming irritable when forced to question them. He most notably appreciates his shy and misunderstood classmate Mia Vasquez-Rivera for her sweet personality and deeply values her intellect and deep breadth of knowledge, trying to kindly brush aside some of the quirks that distinguished her from the rest and choosing instead to accept her as she came. Anthony tends to be very direct and honest with his family and close friends, preferring to say what he believes to be the truth at whichever cost as a means of helping and demonstrating his loyalty to those around him. He is generally regarded as being calm and self-possessed, with a relatively patient and logical approach to situations and never gives up when faced with a challenge. He often gets a sense that something is or isn't going to happen and can find that a whole solution to a problem will present itself seemingly out of nowhere. He is not usually one to get hostile about things and rarely lashes out on others, but in some instances can act as the more mature person, taking on a serious tone. 

Anthony can similarly interact well with adults due to his sensible nature and is often more open around strangers, as well as more extraverted and socially confident at certain points, than Mia is. Mia deeply admires his maturity and composure and aspires to emulate some of his positive qualities for herself, often wishing she could embody some of his social grace and confidence when around other people. One of his prominent traits is his desire for acknowledgment, as when it comes to being competitive, he is mostly in competition with himself, and not striving to beat others. He is also sensitive and tends to dwell on certain things, although he rarely voices his concerns to others and prefers to internalize everything he feels. Anthony is always striving to beat his own records in life and has a strong inner need to be a better and more successful person than he was yesterday, making him somewhat of a "do-gooder". He is able to read into social situations and is good at seeing many things in his environment despite being having a relatively quiet demeanor. Although he appears to be confident and unperturbed, he still has his fair share of insecurities within himself. Sometimes plagued with self-doubt, he has a more vulnerable side that surfaces when he is alone, during which he will turn to dark thoughts and question his worth due to his constant need to please and prove himself to other people and seek outside validation. As a person with fluctuating self-esteem due to never quite being able to live up to his father, who constantly demands more of his son, Anthony sometimes experiences feelings of inferiority. He can relate well to his classmate Mia Vasquez-Rivera, who struggles with personal issues with an emotionally distant father of her own. He has a good friendship with her, arguably becomes her closest male friend over the course of their adolescence and serving as a means of encouragement whenever she is down.