Rene Octavio Valenzuela

June 2007

To fly…man’s greatest dream has become his own. Rene Octavio Valenzuela has had a chance to fly on earth before he flies the actual skies above. He is an eighteen-year-old bilingual student of Mexican heritage who has learned to soar high, serve and lead his peers.

Rene has proven himself to be a leader in every sense of the word. He is a member of the Junior ROTC cadet staff, president of the Student Council, and he is heavily involved with community service. As a young man in Sells, Arizona, Rene volunteered at the Indian Hospital and noticed that a Spanish-English interpreter was needed and it would be beneficial to the patients and staff if he would learn medical terms in Spanish. He was recognized by receiving the hospital’s Volunteer Service Award for two consecutive years. As a member of his community, he has also performed more than 50 hours of reading to elementary school children with the National Honor Society, while still finding time to tutor other students in Math and Science for grades 10-12.

These activities are part of his continuous efforts to offer service to those members of his community of who otherwise would go unnoticed.

Rene is an honor student with outstanding leadership qualities, who strives to make a difference in his community. He plans to become an Aerospace Engineer and eventually launch an aerospace company to rival the present giants in the industry. It is not only his goal to be an engineer but also to spark the interest of other Latinos in this demanding field. Rene leads by example and will become a beacon for his generation. His dedication to serve those in need and to offer his time to reach out to her community makes him a CHCI Young Leader of Today.