Mercedez Gomez, a senior at Santa Rosa High School, volunteers in an after-school program at Lincoln Elementary School where she helps students with their homework. Photo by Jeff Kan Lee / The Press Democrat

By BRETT WILKISON

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Behind her jovial personality, the bouncy step and helping hand she’s shown to many, you’d never know Mercedez Gomez was in pain.
That’s how the 17-year-old Santa Rosa High School senior wants it.
Gomez was born with severely flat feet, a condition that ultimately will require two major reconstructive surgeries, the first of which was done on her right foot last March and the second of which may come a few years from now.
But neither that stroke of bad luck nor the months Gomez already has spent on crutches and in recovery have ever held the teenager back.
Since she was little, she’s played basketball and soccer in local recreational leagues. She kicked her last soccer ball before her surgery a year ago and has considered ignoring her doctor’s orders to stay away from the sport for good.
“It causes so much pain,” she said, “but I miss it so much.”
That no-holds-barred approach to life pretty much sums up how Gomez acts in most of her endeavors, according to those who know her.
“She always works hard, even on the days when she may not be feeling it,” said Santa Rosa High School art teacher Tony Guaraldi-Brown.
Gomez has volunteered for years at the Community Media Center, where her grandmother, retired Santa Rosa High teacher Yolanda Martinez, puts on bilingual educational programs.
“She’s always been one our stars,” Martinez said of her granddaughter.
Recently, Gomez became an after-school math and English tutor at Lincoln Elementary School in Santa Rosa.
In a recent week at Lincoln, she twirled one end of a group jump rope for her students and talked about her future.
After graduation, she hopes to attend culinary school in San Francisco and then move on into a hard-working career as a pastry chef.
Nothing about that challenge — not the early hours or long days on your feet — seems to faze her.
“I don’t think you should hold yourself back in anything,” she said. “You need to go for it and reach your goals.”

Profile:

Age: 17

School: Santa Rosa High School

Lives with: Her mother, Araceli, and two uncles

Career plans: Pastry chef

Favorite TV show: “Cake Boss” on TLC

Favorite food: Flan

Pets: Killer, a chihuahua. “He’s fat and fluffy.”

You can reach Staff Writer Brett Wilkison at 521-5295 or brett.wilkison@pressdemocrat.com.