LAND O' LAKES, Fla. -- For the second year in a row, a Sunlake High School student has been named Pasco County Schools Outstanding Senior.
Alexis Paredes, 17, received the honor for the 2019-2020 school year.
- Alexis Paredes, 17, named Pasco County Schools Outstanding Senior 2019-2020
- Candidates evaluated based on scholarship, leadership, service, and citizenship
- Paredes is the second Sunlake High student in a row to earn the honor
"It was super exciting, and I still can't believe it to this day," said Paredes, of Lutz.
More than just straight A's
Paredes was chosen among nominees from each of the county's high schools. Candidates were evaluated in the categories of scholarship, leadership, service, and citizenship.
There's no question Paredes has succeeded in the classroom. In addition to earning straight A's for most of her time in school, she's taking on all Advanced Placement courses this year.
She also passed six previous AP exams. But she's also gone above and beyond when it comes to community service.
Paredes said she originally began volunteering to earn hours for the Bright Futures program in case she decided to go to college in the Sunshine State. Starting out, her goal was 100 hours.
She's currently up to 398.
Three years volunteering with the Good Samaritan Project, a summer camp program, helped her accumulate that time.
"I just love volunteering," she said. "I love being out and working in the community, whether it's actually getting dirty -- like, I spent one whole day just mulching a field because they needed help, and I'm like, 'Sure, I'm willing to do it.'"
Tackling big topics
Paredes is also involved with a number of organizations, including the National Honor Society, in which she serves a secretary, Sunlake's student council, and the school's chapter of the Junior State of America, or JSA. She's currently president of JSA, a debate and advocacy group that works to fight political apathy among young people.
Members debate issues including recreational marijuana, gun control, and abortion rights.
"We're not afraid to talk about big topics because they're things that are relevant, and we're not going to water it down because we're kids," Paredes said.
She also worked to organize Sunlake's first JSA convention, scheduled to be held at the school January 18. Students from Sunlake and Pasco High School are expected to attend to take part in debates and hear from two speakers -- former Florida State Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Bell and Mary Beth Tinker, a plaintiff in the Supreme Court Case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District.
Paredes said a lot of work has gone into organizing the convention, and that she'd like to see it become an annual event.
"I'm hoping that with me setting up all this groundwork, the next years that they want to do this, it's already easier for them," she said.
When asked what motivates her, Paredes points to home.
"I come from a single parent family," she explained. "It's my mom and my grandmother that raised me. My grandma very much has the immigrant mentality of, 'You come here to America. You make the best life you have available for your kids.'"
"I'm second generation Peruvian, and so because of that, my mom raised me with the same, like, 'Do your best. Never stop doing what you can to achieve the highest potential,'" Paredes went on. "That's very much pushed me to be the best person I can be. Why settle when I'm able to do so much more?"
Beginning this fall, Paredes plans to study political science at the University of Chicago.