One mission at a time, senior Maria Estrada has impacted many lives since bringing the idea of Blue Missions to Pembroke Pines Charter. A mission trip based in the beautiful country of the Dominican Republic, Estrada and thousands of other high school students go each year to help people in poverty access clean water. This mission trip led her to earn the nomination for the Silver Knight Award.
Estrada checks all the boxes when it comes to the Silver Knight award: an outstanding student who maintains a 5.5 GPA, and has taken the extreme and helped communities in need.
From creating bathrooms to playing dominos, Estrada has experienced it all in DR. Wanting to share her amazing experiences with her time giving back she felt the need to share the same experiences amongst her peers.
“Blue Missions means everything to me even though it’s hard and it’s an experience that I didn’t think I could do at first. After a while, I just realized how much it meant to other people and I made so many special connections with the little kids.”
Becoming a nominee for the prestigious Silver Knight Award, Estrada simply just wants to spread awareness about her club. “Through me becoming a nominee the more people hear and become interested in this beautiful mission.”
A nominee in the social sciences category, Estrada has been overwhelmed with gratitude towards this mission that has made such a difference not only in her life but in others for the better.
“At first it did feel overwhelming until I spoke from my heart, being able to go back mentally to when I was with all those kids. The words to describe my time just came out so easily.”
Looking at life in a different light, Estrada shows gratitude for the ability to wake up every morning and come to Pines Charter. “Seeing all the little kids crying when I gave out pencils and notebooks, was an eye-opening experience, making me realize how much education means.”
Always having the passion to help others, Estrada has done more than enough in and out of the classroom. Even representing her Latin culture, “It’s so important to represent the Hispanic culture and how things are in third world countries. It tells other people that they can be the difference and that there are opportunities everywhere to make changes.”
Entering her last semester as a Jaguar, Estrada is more than ready to take on her future at the University of Florida majoring in neuroscience. With goals of helping others. A sense of pride runs through Estrada “I feel proud and happy of myself that I am one of the people representing Charter.”
