Coral Gables High School senior Wanda Bravo was considering becoming a doctor so she volunteered at Miami Children’s Hospital. She started out in the hospital’s childcare program, working with the children of the hospital staff as well as siblings of children who are in the hospital.
“I thought it would be a great way to start,” she said.
The experience made her realize that becoming a doctor was not the right choice.
“Now I want to be a lawyer,” she said. “My dad — he studied to be a lawyer. He came from a Latin American country.”
Her goal eventually is to work for the United Nations.
Bravo was accepted to a number of colleges, including Flagler College, St. John’s, Drexel, American University and the University of Central Florida. “I thought history would be a good start. I want to do more in international relations,” she said.
“I’ll probably minor in history and take a business class.”
As an attorney, she hopes to help people who have immigration issues, including fighting deportations.
At Gables, Bravo is a member of the Chinese Club, Gables Earth (an ecology-oriented club), Art Club, the National Honor Society and she is on the yearbook staff.
“Usually, I’m a writer but I also take photographs,” she said.
Every couple of months she takes 12 volunteers from NHS to Camillus House. The teens help prepare the food, serve dinner and help clean up. She said the idea to volunteer at the homeless shelter came during a brainstorming session last year.
“This is a way to encourage them to do something different other than walks or do drives,” she saidr.
She also volunteers at the annual St. John Bosco Catholic Church fair.
“The money raised goes to the church and other parishes,” she said.
Bravo helps church volunteers collect clothes, pack them and send them to the needy in other countries.
— Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
