HARLINGEN — Azaria Castillo loves sea mammals.
She loves them so much she wants work with them as a marine biologist or a trainer. That’s because Azaria, 12, has been hearing the whale song as far back as she can remember.
“Ever since I was two years old my parents brought me to Sea World in San Antonio,” said Azaria, an eighth grader at Vela Middle School.
“I was just really captivated by them, and it was really awesome to see how a person so small could work with animals that big,” she said. “And it was just something that I have wanted to do ever since then.”
Azaria was one of several Vela Middle School students who put their campus on the map last month with their performances at the National Speech and Debate Association Middle School Nationals. She and her partner Marlee Garza took second place in the nation for Duo Interpretation.
Their duo interpretation piece, about a woman being abused and even locked up by her husband, speaks to another one of Azaria’s passions.
“It was about women’s rights,” she said. “I think Marlee and I are very strong believers in women’s rights so when we were introduced to this piece we really liked the message that it brought out. Being able to perform it and then get to that level of nationals really made an impact on us.”
Such was the same kind of material of the UIL One Act Play earlier this year in which she and her fellow actors took first place.
This was the second year in a row Vela took home the honor.
Not surprising since the work “This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing” is about three sisters who have to determine their journeys through life after their father abandons them.
Ava Salgado was one of the other actresses in this work – there were 22 in all – and both young ladies are passionate about these matters.
Azaria is passionate about many causes.
“I think I want to get more pieces that raise awareness to different types of situations,” she said, “but if I can find another one that relates to women’s rights, I’d like to do that one as well.”
Gun control has always been a concern for her, even more so after Uvalde.
She gave mention now of another Vela champion, Catalina Cabello-Corona, who performed a piece at the tournament that referenced gun violence in schools.
“Catalina’s piece really helped me think of it because I think if we had more gun control it would be safer in school for both teachers and students and parents obviously for their kids,” she said. “So yeah, I think that would be an issue that I would like to touch on.”
Azaria, whose mother’s family hails from Poland and Canada, embraces diversity in many forms. The straight A student also swims and sings in choir.
“I’ve been involved with choir since elementary,” she said. “My teacher gave me some really awesome opportunities in elementary school. I was able to do a showcase online in 2020 for the HCISD. Then in middle school I was introduced to Ms. Selina Charles who gave me a lot of awesome opportunities. And I think that she really helped me with everything for choir, and it was a really great experience with Ms. Charles and I’m so grateful for her help.”
She’s been swimming since she was very little, a perfect activity for one who wants to swim with the whales.
“I’m really interested in working with either killer whales or beluga whales,” she said. “I would like to be a trainer. That’s my main goal. If not then I would obviously become a biologist. But right now, my main goal is trying to get into the field at a marine park like Sea World or one of those. I’ve talked to a lot of them, and their job really seems like one of the coolest in the world for me.”
