You wouldn’t know it by speaking with him, but Indiana Perez overcame years of depression to become Madera High School’s top graduate of 2014.
Throughout his years at Thomas Jefferson Middle School and in his initial time as a Coyote, Perez said he didn’t have any friends and was a lonely student.
“I was in a depressed state,” said Perez, 18. “I was always kind of a loner, I never really had friends even in elementary school. It was hard for me.”
Whereas many people who suffer from depression turn to friends or counseling for help, Perez said he introduced himself to psychology and Japanese Buddhism; two fields that helped him come to terms with his despair on both a spiritual and scientific level...