Students Who Shine: Plantation High School's Amya Wallace
MIAMI — Walk the halls of any school in this country and you'll find that one. That one student who's involved, that one student who everyone loves, that one student who is so driven they're destined for greatness and becomes an obvious standout to the school administration and staff.
Tracy Greenbaum is the Director of Counseling at Plantation High School.
"I've been doing this education thing for about 29 years and she's probably the most dynamic student I've ever seen," said Greenbaum.
Greenbaum has seen it all in his career, but few like 18-year-old senior Amya Wallace.
"What's most amazing about her is she's very humble. She's kind, she's caring, you know, she's kind of even-keeled. She just has this way about her where it's just, you know, everybody loves Amya," said Wallace's counselor.
Wallace earns straight A's in advanced placement courses and IB dual enrollment which means she already has college credits. Her list of accomplishments, extracurricular, and community involvement is robust. Here's a look at her academic and involvement catalog:
Accomplishments
- Gold Bi-Literacy Medal — Spanish
- Volunteers with the National Achievers Society
- First Baptist Church mentor
- Mentoring Tomorrow's Leaders
- Member of Women of Tomorrow
- Neuroscience research program - research proposal
Extracurricular Activities
- Best Buddies
- Key Club
- Student Government — Class President
- BRACE Cadet — Ambassador
- National Honor Society
- Mu Alpha Theta
- Science National Honor Society
Volunteer & Community Service
- Community service hours - 983
- Childrens Diagnostic and Treatment Center
- University Animal Hospital
- Broward County Parks & Recreation — Summer Volunteer
Wallace doesn't shy away from tough subjects and curriculum. In fact, she wrote a research paper in neuroscience with a UCLA neurologist. She has been shopping around the research paper trying to get it published in a medical journal.
"It was more so looking into how iron might affect the differential and selective degeneration of the substantia nigra versus the ventral tegmental area, which are both key structures in the brain that kind of indicate the progression of Parkinson's disease," said Wallace.
She has a 10-year plan in place. When Wallace is 28 years old, she expects to have completed her residency in anesthesiology, her chosen career path.
Despite all the focus on academia, Wallace is a pretty well-rounded young lady. She has loved taking care of others which is depicted by a picture of her as a two or three-year-old feeding her doll baby. She loves animals and volunteering at animal hospitals. Family is important to her and she prefers to be near her grandparents, mom and dad.
Plantation High's principal believes Wallace is destined for something big.
"She's going to probably come up with a cure for something," said Principal Perinaz Bristol.
Greenbaum thinks she'll end up being the valedictorian. Wallace wants to begin her foray into anesthesiology at the University of Miami.