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In the fall, Westminster Christian School senior Nina Marie Cuesta will be attending the Miami-Dade Honors College to start her college career. While she is still undecided, she does have a strong interest in architecture.
Cuesta chose to attend the Miami-Dade Honors College for the first two years because she received a full scholarship and a stipend. She was accepted to several universities but the financial incentives for attending Miami-Dade for her core classes were too attractive to pass up.
Currently, she is considering the University of Florida for the final two years of college.
Cuesta is an artist, so she’d love to go into a career where she is able to continue to design and create.
“I find residential architecture very interesting,” she says. “I think designing homes for others is the most intimate form of the career.”
She loves architectural projects that, when built, look like they complement the space without disrupting the surroundings.
Throughout her high school career, Cuesta was involved in community service. Initially she did the typical miscellaneous community service events such as fundraising and food banks. But she yearned to form a personal connection with those she served. So, she looked for long-term opportunities and found the Children’s Rehabilitation Network (CRN).
She worked with them at the TPAC Center, which she says is essentially a daycare for children who are severely disabled. The center provides a safe space for the children while their parents work. While there, the children receive a range of services including tutoring, medical services, occupational services, and speech therapy.
She tutored the children, working with kids who had learning disabilities to others who were in wheelchairs and needed help holding a pencil.
Her favorite times there were when she planned arts and crafts projects for the children – usually for holidays. They’d make Valentine’s Day cards for their parents or little Christmas ornaments.
Because she had an interest in medicine at that time, she switched her volunteer efforts to the Jackson South obstetrics unit.
“There I assisted the nurses and doctors,” she says. “I would help discharge patients, deliver bloodwork to the laboratories, as well as get them any sort of food, blankets, or aid they needed.”
Once patients were discharged, she’d help the new families leave the hospital and get home safely.
“It was an incredible experience,” she says. “I’ve always loved kids and seeing the medical process firsthand was amazing.”
She reluctantly stopped volunteering there to concentrate on school which opened a new opportunity. She became the head of Clubs and Community Service Committee for Westminster’s student government.
“I planned community service projects for the entire school,” she says.
She is particularly proud of working with the Tim Tebow Foundation for Night to Shine, a prom for individuals with disabilities who would not otherwise participate in a formal dance.
She contacted numerous special needs schools around Miami and was able to host 60 guests as well as their friends and family.
“They took pictures, danced, road in a limousine, and even walked down a red carpet,” she says. “It was a memorable night for everyone that attended.”
At the end of the night, all the guests were announced prom kings and queens as a final closing to their celebration.
“It was without a doubt, the one thing from high school I will never forget,” Cuesta says.
Due to COVID restrictions, this year’s plans changed drastically. However, she continues her efforts to serve her community through various a food drives and distribution centers for the needy.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
