Within hours of each other, David Ceballos graduated from high school Don Bosco Technology in the Los Angeles County city of Rosemead with the best grades of his class, as well as from an online math program at Stanford University.
“I graduated on Saturday from Don Bosco Technologyand on Sunday we travel to San Francisco for my Stanford graduation,” says David, who confessed to being very proud of himself for graduating high school and winning five scholarships that will allow him to avoid having to pay tuition at the University of the South California (USC), where he has been accepted to study biochemical engineering.
“I want to work designing medical equipment and health technology that help people,” he says in an interview with The opinion.
At 17, David is such a dedicated kid that he even finished high school with a host of accolades.
He was selected as the Amazon Future Engineer 2023 (in Spanish Amazon Future Engineer 2023) which earned him a $40,000 scholarship and a summer internship at amazon.com
In March he was recognized as the Edison Scholar 2023which earned him a $50,000 scholarship and the opportunity for an internship at the company Edison International/Southern California Edison.
He also completed the non-profit organization’s summer fellowship program Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation with an internship in coding with SoZango Solutions/Flex Togetheran online health community.
In his spare time he tutors math and physics at his school and at the local library; and he is a member ofl Key Club and the National Honor Society at his school.
The key to school success, David says, is hard work.
“After school, I spend two to three hours a day doing homework and studying for exams. I make sure I do everything they ask me to do,” she says.
And he reveals that definitely the person who has influenced him the most in his life has been his father Eric, since he motivates him a lot to work hard.
He adds that his school also made a difference in his decision to study to be an engineer.
For more than 65 years, Bosco Tech it has produced engineers, scientists, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and leaders in all sectors of industry.
According to their website, young people of all religious, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds leave high school prepared to be lifelong learners, with the tools to succeed in college and beyond.
David’s recommendation to other high school kids is to try their best to get what they want.
“Use your goals as a motivation to reach them,” she advises.
David will start classes at USC in August; and his parents couldn’t be happier for his achievements.
“We are very proud of all the hard work our son has done; and we and my mom are very grateful for all the opportunities,” says Belinda Ceballos, David’s mother.
“David is a very generous boy, he always thinks of others; and the study has been easy for him. Since he was a child, in all the tests he was given, he came out with a very high IQ. That’s why from grade 7, he was accepted to study mathematics online at Stanford University where they only accept people who are very advanced ”.
The scholarships David earned to go to college are from Edison, Amazon, Microsoft, Lundquist, and the USC Merit Scholarship.
“All these scholarships are renewable each year according to their performance, which is a great financial relief for us. I am a part-time nurse, and my husband is a telephone technician.”
Both parents are second generation Mexican American, and David is the couple’s only child.
Belinda talks that David has an excellent relationship with his dad. “When my husband is not working, they will always see him with his daughter. It’s his life. For my part, I never wanted to put pressure on him, I only asked him to do his best, and told him that his only job was to be a student, but we have also always wanted him to enjoy being a child. He really likes to go to disneyland already the Universal Studios; and we take it whenever we can”.
And this mother shares that the school Don Bosco Technology he taught his son to see other perspectives and open his mind to many opportunities.
“It is a small, Catholic school, for only boys, where they are directed and taught to return to their community and very good values so that they learn to respect people.”
So – he says – they can’t ask for more because their son is happy with his achievements.
“We are very grateful to the school because it prepared our son for college, and taught him direction and discipline.”
David excitedly reveals that after graduation, he will receive a trip to walt disney florida where he will go with his parents.