Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009

Teen Hall of Fame: Mayra Miranda, Patterson High School Graduate

Mayra has dealt with tremendous hardship but still was able to rise to athletic and academic excellence.

She played tennis in high school and earned fantastic success in academics in four years, in spite of her father's death at the end of her freshman year.

Mayra said she was encouraged to persevere through it by remembering his advice for her. She knew that the work he had done was so she could have a better education and a better life than he had.

"You have to be strong whether a person you love is there or not. Don't let it bring you down, and don't let it stop you from achieving your goals," she said.

Mayra also played tennis for three years and was a WAC Scholar, an award given to athletes who earn a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Though she said it was sometimes tricky to juggle her many Advanced Placement classes, she was able to maintain good grades and a good spot on the tennis team.

Mayra excelled in academics, earning the maximum score of 800 on the SAT in Spanish and the score of 5 on the AP test.

She was raised speaking Spanish at home, learning English in kindergarten. In high school, in addition to four years of Spanish, she took two years of French, proving to be quite a linguist.

"Knowing different languages is something that appeals to me, and so is being able to communicate not only with some people, but with more people than normal," she said.

In addition, Mayra participated in Patterson High's production of "Beauty and the Beast" during her senior year, which she described as an opportunity to "try something new."

She was involved in the Mexican-American Student Association for three years, as well as CSF, the photography club, drama club, AP Spanish club and the Hawaii club, of which she was vice president.

Mayra maintained a GPA of 3.8. She plans to attend the University of California at Merced this fall and major in psychology.

FAMILY: Mother, Angelica, father (deceased), Roberto; siblings, Elfa, 15, Roberto, 11, and Luis, 9.

HOBBIES: Playing tennis with my sister, spending time with my family, camping, hiking.

BIGGEST INFLUENCE: My mom because she came from a very big family, with eight siblings, and there wasn't a ton of money. She studied really hard and graduated from UC Berkeley even though she didn't have a lot of money. She worked for what she got and taught me that if I work, I can achieve it in the end.

LAST BOOK I READ FOR PLEASURE: "The Host," by Stephanie Meyer

FAVORITE TV SHOW: "America's Best Dance Crew"

FAVORITE MOVIE: "A Walk to Remember"

FAVORITE MUSIC: I like rock and Spanish a lot.

BIGGEST FEAR: Heights, but I'm very good at conquering that fear.

WHAT I'D TELL THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for breaking the race barrier (through becoming president).

ADVICE FOR KIDS: Don't always pay attention to what everyone says. Just because it's the cool thing to do, don't always follow it.

ADVICE FOR ADULTS: Follow your heart.

WHERE I'LL BE IN 10 YEARS: Probably either a clinical psychologist or a psychologist at schools helping out troubled teenagers. And just being happy, whether I have a family or not.

— VICTORIA PARDINI/TEENS IN THE NEWSROOM

The Teen Hall of Fame honoree receives a $100 check from E.&J. Gallo Winery, movie tickets from Dr. Randy Winter with the Modesto Arts Medical Group, a gift card from Yogurt Mill and bowling passes from Yosemite Lanes.