By Rachel Luna, Staff Writer
06/08/2011 Highlander
The 2011 high school graduation season is underway and many students around the San Gabriel Valley received their high school diplomas today.
Diana Peralta is one of them.
The Nogales High School senior graduates with an International Baccalaureate Diploma and a full-ride scholarship to UC Berkeley through the Gates Millennium Scholars Program.
The Gates Millennium Scholarship will provide Peralta with financial assistance, academic support, monitoring and leadership training.
She celebrates her academic accomplishments after overcoming a rough start in her high school career.
"I'm now an International Baccalaureate student ... but I wasn't always this way," Peralta said. "I started off my freshman year doing horribly. I had a very low GPA and wasn't involved in anything. But going into my sophomore year, I realized that something had to change."
Though Peralta said she has been in GATE classes since the third grade, problems outside the classroom took her focus off school during her freshman and the first half of her sophomore year.
The academic motivation to do better in school came from her teachers' encouragement. Her chemistry honors teacher, Ezekial Chavez, inspired Peralta the most to bring up her bad grades, she said.
"Mr. Chavez always gave motivational speeches in his class," she recalled. "He would tell me, `This is your potential. You can get a better score next time. Don't waste it, use it,' and it made me want to do better."
Peralta has since acquired straight As for the last two semesters along with taking seven AP/IB courses every year after her sophomore year. She worked her way to earn a cumulative 4.4 GPA.
"I try to tell my students to go out and work hard in school so they can support themselves in life and be independent," Chavez said. "Diana is a very hard worker and is very dedicated to her studies. I'm so proud of her."
Friends and family joined Peralta at her high school graduation ceremony. She is the first in her family to attend a four-year college. Environmental Policy and Law will be her academic focus at UC Berkeley.
"Everyone in my family is excited and they are really proud of me," Peralta said.
In addition to succeeding in school, she has dedicated time to volunteer efforts. As Nogales High School student body vice president, she relaunched the Best Buddies Club on campus and spent time involved with Key Club and IB Questors.
"I didn't realize I was wasting opportunities," Peralta reflected. "You can't get stuck in the present. Sometimes it seems pretty bad, but the only way to get past it is to better your education because that's the only thing that can get you further in life."
[email protected]
626-962-8811, ext. 2104
06/08/2011 Highlander
The 2011 high school graduation season is underway and many students around the San Gabriel Valley received their high school diplomas today.
Diana Peralta is one of them.
The Nogales High School senior graduates with an International Baccalaureate Diploma and a full-ride scholarship to UC Berkeley through the Gates Millennium Scholars Program.
The Gates Millennium Scholarship will provide Peralta with financial assistance, academic support, monitoring and leadership training.
She celebrates her academic accomplishments after overcoming a rough start in her high school career.
"I'm now an International Baccalaureate student ... but I wasn't always this way," Peralta said. "I started off my freshman year doing horribly. I had a very low GPA and wasn't involved in anything. But going into my sophomore year, I realized that something had to change."
Though Peralta said she has been in GATE classes since the third grade, problems outside the classroom took her focus off school during her freshman and the first half of her sophomore year.
The academic motivation to do better in school came from her teachers' encouragement. Her chemistry honors teacher, Ezekial Chavez, inspired Peralta the most to bring up her bad grades, she said.
"Mr. Chavez always gave motivational speeches in his class," she recalled. "He would tell me, `This is your potential. You can get a better score next time. Don't waste it, use it,' and it made me want to do better."
Peralta has since acquired straight As for the last two semesters along with taking seven AP/IB courses every year after her sophomore year. She worked her way to earn a cumulative 4.4 GPA.
"I try to tell my students to go out and work hard in school so they can support themselves in life and be independent," Chavez said. "Diana is a very hard worker and is very dedicated to her studies. I'm so proud of her."
Friends and family joined Peralta at her high school graduation ceremony. She is the first in her family to attend a four-year college. Environmental Policy and Law will be her academic focus at UC Berkeley.
"Everyone in my family is excited and they are really proud of me," Peralta said.
In addition to succeeding in school, she has dedicated time to volunteer efforts. As Nogales High School student body vice president, she relaunched the Best Buddies Club on campus and spent time involved with Key Club and IB Questors.
"I didn't realize I was wasting opportunities," Peralta reflected. "You can't get stuck in the present. Sometimes it seems pretty bad, but the only way to get past it is to better your education because that's the only thing that can get you further in life."
[email protected]
626-962-8811, ext. 2104