Glades Central valedictorian’s goal: Help special-needs kids
Often in life, we encounter moments of passion so strong that we want to hold on to them forever — even though we know well their fleeting form doesn’t allow us to do that.
But for some, these moments can translate into an undeniable calling, and those lucky enough to experience that do so at just the right time. Glades Central High School valedictorian Gisell Rodriguez knows just what that feels like.
Rodriguez, 17, is accustomed to juggling schoolwork with an active presence in her community, but it was at an event volunteering with VSA International her junior year that she realized her desire to help children with special needs. The program, she explained, allowed kids with mental and physical disabilities from Belle Glade, Pahokee and South Bay to come together and explore an artistic outlet.
Rodriguez assisted by setting up
booths and helping on the stage (for performing arts). Her favorite part of the day was acting as an audience with the other volunteers while the kids performed. “It allows them to have fun artistically, and that’s really where I got inspired,” she said. “It just clicked.”
Rodriguez also found fulfillment working at the Boys & Girls Club of Palm Beach County, where she’s served as a mentor to younger members. She also worked with the older mentors at the Glades Teen Center, where she found her own.
Rodriguez participated in the yearbook committee; debate club; Spanish book club, where she served as president her sophomore year; and the Spanish National Honors Society, serving as president her junior year and from which she received a certificate of recognition for invaluable service.
But Rodriguez, who will graduate with a 3.79 GPA and 5.05 HPA, wasn’t necessarily striving to be the school’s top student. “I just wanted to see my boundaries,” she said. The teen took 11 courses her junior year out of the normal seven. “I wanted to see where I could go, and it took me to being the valedictorian.”
The journey wasn’t exactly easy, either, “I definitely found a balance,” she said. Rodriguez noted incorporating one-hour power naps into her weekly routine helped. “I bought my planner and made use of my time efficiently ... but at the end of the day, if you want something, you just have to put in the effort to get it.”
The ambitious student, who was accepted into nearly every state school, heads to Florida International University to study psychology. “The campus definitely had a spark,” Rodriguez said.
She will be the first in her family to go to college. Rodriguez would advise other students “not to aim to be No. 1, but focus on being the best they can ... you have to know your boundaries.”