ANTONIO VARELA: PLANTING SEEDS OF SUCCESS

Antonio Varela doesn't remember the suffering. He was just 2 at the time, when he survived leukemia and open-heart surgery. Yet today, the thought of making the most out of his life is driving him to great heights.

Varela is a regular volunteer at Give Kids the World, a member of the National Honor Society and Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica, plus an accomplished Eagle Scout. Oh, and Varela, a junior at Seminole High School in Sanford, maintains a 4.4 grade-point average.

“I really want to be a doctor; I want to help people,” he says. “And I try to do the best I can in everything I do, so I can benefit from it in the future.”

Last summer, Varela was one of 36 youths selected to participate in the Summer Health Careers Camp at the Central Florida Area Health Education Center of Nova Southeastern University. There, he learns skills that, more typically, college medical students would learn. In addition, a special medical program at Seminole High is providing even more advanced training. Call him an overachiever.

Further proof: He has been a member of the Boy Scouts of America since age 5 and is now a member of the Order of the Arrow—the scouts' National Honor Society. Also, the only Hispanic from Central Florida, he participated in the largest Scout service project since World War II. He and his peers gathered in five locations across the United States to repair and build more than 50 miles of forest trails.

However, the native of Puerto Rico, who arrived in Central Florida three years ago, doesn't need a compass to tell him where he wants to go in life. “I want to be the best I can be,” he says,“and I want to do whatever I have to do to get my goal.”

For more information about the Central Florida Council, Boy Scouts of America, call 407-889-4403 or go to www.cfcbsa.org.