Super Students
Saturday, September 5, 1997
Name: Serina Diniega
Age: 15
School: Pearl City High
Pastimes: Reading, listening to music
Future: Astronaut
Serina Diniega's life is all about calendars. "One for school things, more for everything else," said the 15-year-old Pearl City High School junior. "(They) keep me organized." A 'love of learning'
And Diniega needs to be organized to keep track of her full-time class schedule and load of extracurricular activities.
A 4.0 student involved with the National Honor Society, cross-country team, math team, Leo Club, Girl Scouts, a church youth group and student government, Diniega could be a poster girl for student organizers. "If I want to do something, I have to do it right the first time because I don't have time to do it a second time."
Parents Darlene, an accountant, and Michael, a civil engineer, instilled in Diniega the importance of a good education. But high marks are not her inspiration to do well in school.
"I just try to learn... I love to learn," she said. "The grades are a result -- they're not my goal."
Head counselor Bill Park said Diniega's success as both a student -- she is ranked second in her grade level -- and a person comes from "being self-directed ... doing more than what's necessary because of her love of learning. That's what makes her different from her peers."
With a love of math and science and a trip to Space Camp at the Johnson Space Center in Texas under her belt, Diniega hopes to attend Princeton to study aeronautics. Her ultimate goal, she said, is to become an astronaut at NASA.
Kimberly Fu, Special to the Star-Bulletin
