Students like Louisville High School freshman Alejandra Rivera make the future --- for the Church and the world --- look much brighter.
As one of 12 student scholars recognized as "Top Young Catholic Leaders" this month in Catholic Digest magazine from among dozens of 2006 parochial school elementary graduate nominees in the U.S., Rivera and her fellow honorees represent the "promise of America's Catholic schools," say competition officials.
"When I first heard, I was really shocked," said Rivera, a graduate of St. John Eudes School in Chatsworth. She had been nominated by her principal, Barbara Danowitz, for high academic achievement, strong leadership skills and extensive Christian service to the school, parish and community.
"Alejandra is an extraordinary young lady who exemplifies what it means to inspire others. She has a heart of gold and demonstrates compassion and humility," wrote Danowitz in her letter nominating Rivera for the $500 Catholic Digest Scholarship Award.
Rivera was one of two California honorees this year (David Vondracek, a freshman at St. Augustine High School in San Diego, was the other). Florida had five awardees, New York three and Illinois and Minnesota one apiece.
During her junior high years, Rivera consistently placed on the principal's honor list and served in student government as spirit commissioner and student body vice president. In her final eighth grade semester, she wrote a state-winning essay, "Who Are Today's Patriots?", and read her inspirational paper during a Veteran's Day program sponsored by the VFW of Chatsworth. She was selected as class valedictorian at her graduation ceremony last June.
Among her many hours of parish and community service, Rivera has volunteered since sixth grade as a student aide at the annual summer Vacation Bible School and helped out at the Knights of Columbus Christmas party for children in Canoga Park.
"She has a great rapport with small children. The kindergartners just loved her," said Rivera's mom, Margarita Rodriguez-Rivera, herself a Louisville High alumna. She characterized the eldest of her two daughters as "studious, hard-working, persistent, proficient, humble, caring and loving."
Interviewed in the Louisville lobby after school recently (before being driven by her mom to one of her weekday school team soccer practices), Rivera said her "hard-working" mother was a role model since "she puts everyone else in front of herself."
The whole family is close-knit. Faith has provided strength and support during the years Rivera's aunt suffered from a chronic disease requiring a successful organ transplant. Rivera wrote how her family coped during her aunt's illness and received the eighth grade "Diego Baza" scholarship, named after a student in her class who died in the third grade.
Rivera's winning scholarship essay responding to the topic, "How you practice courage through faith," sums up her personal philosophy about life in today's fast-paced, peer-pressure world. "God always has a plan for us," says Rivera, "and we just have to trust in Him." |