Discus Award Winner
Winners Gallery
PHOTOS
Claudia L. Ramirez
12th Grade, TX
ATTRIBUTES
Academics
I have been an honor roll student every year since third grade. I have taken 11 AP courses since the ninth grade, 5 of them also being dual credit and I am currently taking AP Environmental Science. I scored a 23 on my ACT, and I am Top 10% of my graduating class of 535. I am part of my school’s National Honor Society and in a couple of months I will be graduating under the Distinguished Achievement Program. I have already been accepted to 12 institutions of higher education such as the University of Texas at San Antonio, Sam Houston State University, and Baylor University. Some of these universities have even invited me to apply to their honors program.
Green
I am one of the few high school students in the state of Texas that are part of the National Hispanic Environmental Council. I had the honor of being selected after working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge located in Alamo, Texas. While working there, I worked hand in hand with the wildlife biologists planting trees, manually pulling out weeds and invasive plant species, and helping with beach cleanups. Just last week, I was selected to attend the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Career Symposium held at Shepherdstown, West Virginia to learn more about the careers that are offered by the Service.
Work
As a senior in high school, juggling between my responsibilities as the Command Sergeant Major of my school’s JROTC, the Criminal Justice state and regional competitions I attend every month, and maintaining my grades up in school, having a part-time job seems almost impossible. But this very busy year has also taught me a lot about having great time management skills. So after going to school and to the internship at the Pharr Fire Department, I go to work at the Boys and Girls Club of Pharr where I tutor and mentor students grades K-12. I have been employed by AmeriCorps since September of last year and I have to admit I really enjoy doing my job.
