June at The Preuss School UC San Diego means the year is coming to an end, which means preparing for graduation. This moment is when most seniors start to reflect on their high school experiences and friendships, and how it has shaped them for the real world. Among this year’s seniors is Hector Vargas, one of our valedictorians, who has evolved at Preuss by joining many clubs, joining extra curricular activities, and climbing his way up to take on leadership positions.
Hector Vargas has been part of the Ecology Club, Henna Club, The National Honor Society Club, Science National Honor Society, and Robotics. While each activity played a role in shaping his experience at Preuss, Robotics was one that stood out to him the most.
“One of my best and most memorable experiences in high school was being part of the robotics team,” states Vargas. “It gave me an opportunity to meet new people and work with them, which was amazing because we shared the same interests and goals.”
He and his teammates took the robotics team to the state championship after ten years. Not only was this a dream come true for Hector and the team, but it was also the opportunity to spend four days at Disneyland while competing against schools from across California.
“Making it to state was a huge accomplishment for our team,” he shared. “Being able to compete in front of so many people while doing something we enjoyed made the experience even more unforgettable.”
Hector also had several leadership positions. For example he was Vice President of Ecology Club, Co-Vice President of Henna Club, an officer in NHS, and Co-President of SNHS. These roles gave him the opportunity to build his responsibility and helped him balance multi tasking.
“Being involved in leadership taught me how important communication and teamwork are,” he mentioned.
Although Hector accomplished much throughout high school, he mentioned that it was not easy to balance everything at once.
“There were definitely times when things felt overwhelming,” he said. “Learning how to manage my time helped me keep up and accomplish many new things.”
Looking back, Hector acknowledged that the experiences helped him reach one of his biggest moments in his high school journey.
“My biggest accomplishment is earning a full-ride scholarship to New York University,” he states.
Receiving the news is something Hector will never forget.
“When I found out I got into NYU, it didn’t feel real at first; it felt like everything I worked for finally paid off.”
As Hector Varga’s time is coming to an end at Preuss, his long journey reflects his hard work and accomplishments, as he gets ready to continue his path at New York University.
