Big dreams, big heart

Even before she entered high school, Alyssa Annette Arriola already knew what one of her life goals was: to have a career that would allow her to earn enough money to care for her parents.

"My parents have sacrificed a lot for me," Arriola said. She wants to return that love.

Arriola, 18, is a senior at Hanna High School and nominated as an Academic All-Star. She is ranked 63 out of 650 in the senior class. She has a 3.7957 grade point average.

Arriola was nominated by her counselor Mariana Figueroa who writes "Alyssa has had to help out at home but she doesn't lose focus of her education and her involvement with the community. She has made it work and continues to excel in school."

Arriola has hopes of studying law and becoming a corporate attorney. She wants to enter a profession where she knows she will able to earn enough money to care not only for herself, but her parents as well.

"They have sacrificed a lot for me. They are my world. They are probably the most influential" people in my life, she said. "You have to be able to come back and help them out."

Her mom is her best friend and her father is the stricter one of the two she said. She expressed her gratitude for his sternness.

"I have to thank him because I wouldn't be where I am now" if it wasn't for him, she said.

Arriola plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin where she will major in marketing and minor in English. Once she graduates and gets a job, Arriola plans to attend law school, hopefully at Stanford, and will pay for her schooling with the money she earns.

"You have to reach for the moon...that's where I hope to be, God willing," Arriola said.

Arriola said she was excited to learn she was named an Academic All Star. She considers it an honor for not only herself but the other nominees because they are being recognized for the hard work they have completed over the past four years.

"I'm very excited and very honored," she said.

lmartinez@brownsvilleherald.com