Torres awarded Pursuit for Education scholarship

Each spring, the Niwot High School Education Foundation awards the Pursuit for Education scholarship to honor "motivated students who recognize the power and impact of post-secondary education," and it's hard to imagine a senior who fits that description better than 2020 recipient Daniel Torres.

"I look forward to being the first one in my family to go to college," he wrote in an email interview about the scholarship and his future plans. "No one in my family has reached this point, and I'm excited to pave the way for my younger sibling and cousins, and hopefully inspire them to continue with their schooling."

Torres was candid about his experiences growing up in an immigrant family in a February interview with the Left Hand Valley Courier, and how that shaped his views toward education today.

"[My parents] always told me stories about how my aunts and uncles had to do backbreaking labor in the fields," Torres said. "They've always wanted me to be more than that. They want me to excel; to have a dream and be able to achieve it... It's the American Dream-if you work hard enough for it, you'll be able to achieve it. That's what I'm trying to do."

That drive was evident in the way Torres spent his four years at Niwot, both in and out of the classroom. An aspiring engineer, he focused on math and science as a student in the school's demanding IB diploma programme, and took the advanced placement offerings in those subjects as well. He was also a member of the Aquatic Robotics Team (ICART) at the St. Vrain Innovation Center, and helped develop a submersible vehicle to study fish habitats for the City of Longmont.

For most of the school year, Torres juggled his academic demands and weekends filled with football games and wrestling meets, as well as daily practices lasting into the evening hours. He saw most of his athletic success as a Cougar on the mat, advancing to the Class 4A state championships as a junior and senior, despite having no wrestling experience at all when he came to the team as a freshman. Earlier this year, Torres credited the sport with giving him "a sense of self-worth and identity" at Niwot and giving him self-discipline and other tools to use back in the classroom.

"Wrestling takes a lot out of you, but it gives a lot back," he said.

Torres is headed to CU-Boulder in the fall where he plans to study mechanical engineering, and then go on to a career in the biomedical field, a path inspired by seeing his grandmother suffer a medical emergency.

"With my degree I hope to use the skills I learn to change lives, just as it has changed my life and my grandma's life," he wrote of his future plans. "I want to hopefully join the engineering team at the children's hospital and start my journey there."

During his time as a Cougar, Torres was inspired by a number of teachers, including Mrs. Broestl, whose demanding chemistry and physics class made him work for good grades, and Mrs. Pomranka, who taught him to appreciate language and literature. Torres also listed Mrs. Mudukatore, who "helped me to keep my spirit" and showed him how to balance school and his extracurriculars, and Mrs. Wittstruck, whose math class "allowed me to understand the world around me in a different way," as inspirational teachers.

"All of these people helped me get out of my shell and to be able to express myself better," he wrote. "They made my experience at Niwot a wonderful one, and I truly appreciate the work and dedication they put into their teaching. It makes school a welcoming and amazing place."

He also complimented the Niwot IB diploma programme as a whole, and said he believes "all the essays I had to write, all the public speaking and presentations I had to do, all the community service work" prepared him well to deal with an engineering major's workload. He also advised younger students in the program to stop worrying so much and keep their eyes on the prize.

Torres had words of wisdom for the underclassmen: "Always think ahead. Stop living in the past, and wondering what it could have been. Think of the future and aim for what could be. That kept me motivated to reach my goals and it made me want to improve myself more and more each day."