Odalmy and Luis are among the 7 remarkable students who received the 2011 Hispanic Heritage Youth Awards presented by the Hispanic Heritage Foundation. One recipient was selected in each category from hundreds of regional selectees who were selected from 10,000 applicants. Each has an inspiring story to share and we are proud to honor them as Tr3s Agentes de Cambio. Cancer is a topic that Odalmy Molina is very familiar with. Two members of her family, her father and her brother, have been afflicted with this disease. She longs to one day find a cure for cancer. Odalmy is currently involved with many cancer related organizations such as the American Cancer Society, for which she serves as the youth co-chair. She is also involved with a “Teens against Cancer” Relay for Life team. She is a spectacular student as well, maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA even after taking 20 AP classes. In addition to her other achievements, Odalmy has co-published original research on analgesic peptide gene transfer. Her words tell of the greatness Latinos can achieve, she envisions “Hispanics as millions of great neurons, unified in a single brain, capable of unraveling all its potential across different fields.” Luis Ortiz’s father once told him that he should go beyond simply finding a job for himself but rather, help his community by creating jobs for other Latinos. Due to his father’s influence, Luis developed a passion for business which led him to enroll in challenging, business oriented math classes throughout high school. He has participated in various programs designed to improve social skills for emerging business leader including: the National Hispanic Recognition program and the Student Emerging Leaders Program. Luis, who is of Columbian descent, is Captain of his high school varsity soccer team and the Assistant Coach of his school’s Bocce Ball team which is made up entirely of special education students and students who haven’t played a varsity sport, “Seeing these kids have the opportunity to play at a competitive level against other schools and just have so much fun and just being a part of that is really rewarding.”
