High School Student Kiara Rivera’s Time to Shine
By Adam Grant
Most kids at the age of 10 are cooped up in their living rooms watching shows like “Spongebob Squarepants.” For young Kiara Rivera, this wasn’t the case. The only show that caught her attention at age 10 was “Criminal Minds.”
“I wanted to be a homicide detective ever since I saw an episode of Criminal Minds where the family’s questions about a loved one’s death were left unanswered,” she said. “That made me want to answer all the questions that a victim’s family would have because I know that losing someone is like losing a part of yourself.”
Reflecting back on her hometown, Rivera shared the abundance of homicide present in her area.
It was important to her because she believes that people are extremely hard on each other.
“I think people are cruel nowadays because they have been facing cruelty all their life,” said Rivera.
Rivera, wants to bring upon justice and put an end to violence, crimes and terror. She explained that people are facing this situation because people never had any family to help care for them and so they walked towards gangs where they faced cruelty and anger.
“I like giving a voice to people,” said Rivera.
Giving people a voice gives her a sense of accomplishment. It makes Rivera feel good after she makes people feel better after horrific events.
In order to prepare herself for this intense occupation, she is taking science classes at school, Passaic High School, where she uses evidence to solve a case.
At home, her sister, her one cousin and she are the only ones in their family who are applying to college. She is also the only member of the family who is interested in this occupation.
Her parents have always encouraged her.This is important because not all of her family applied for college and so, she will be one of the few members of her family who will apply.It’s because jobs like being a homicide detective or police officer don’t take females seriously. All Kiara is trying to do is be one of the people who is trying to one of the solutions to end violence, crimes and bad events all over the world.
When Rivera heard about the murder of 15-year-old Lesandro Guzman-Feliz by a gang about a week ago, she got terrified. For the simple reason that no one helped him as he bleed to death after being stabbed outside a bodega in Bronx New York on Wednesday, June 20, 2018.
