| David Bejar, a graduate of Coral Reef High School is the 2005 National Hispanic Heritage Youth Award Recipient in Academic Excellence, sponsored by Chase and MasterCard International. On a 4.00 scale, David graduated with a weighted grade point average of 6.634 while enrolled in the rigorous International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. Outside of the classroom, David was the president of one of the largest National Honor Society Chapters in Miami-Dade County. He was also on the board of the Hispanic Heritage Club, and was an active member of the Math, Science, and Spanish Honor Societies. David is an Advanced Placement Scholar – a recognition for high achievement in the College Board’s Advanced Placement Exams. He is a Toyota Community Scholar, a Ford Salute to Education Winner in the Natural Sciences, and was offered the Annika Rodriguez Scholarship at Washington University. David is a regular participant of the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. His proudest achievement in the community is having co-founded the L.A.T.I.N. project (Linking American Teens to their Immigrant Neighbors), an effort geared to the education and financial sponsorship of a group of 50 children in a migrant center in Homestead, FL. David says, “it is my hope that through this project I have inspired within the children, a love of schooling and academics, while at the same time giving them a chance to have fun and enjoy their lives as children and all people should be able to.” David’s most significant role model is his grandfather who David says “is a living, human mold of passion and hope, of endeavor and a relentless desire for knowledge.” Of Cuban descent, David also says that his Hispanic heritage is his identity – he says that in everything he does, in every goal, he represents his people. “Living only for today inhibits success in all aspects of the word, but living with optimism for the future can lead to the elevation of an individual not only in society’s esteem, but within himself, in motivation and in confidence.” David plans to major in Molecular Biology at Princeton University and plans to pursue a career in medicine. |
