Pictured: Diego M, a senior at Pine View School. Photo by Wyatt Kostygan.

Our community is filled with many incredible young people doing such amazing things. This summer, we are featuring some of these young people in our Thursday Family & Education edition. Each of the students we are highlighting has been chosen as one of this year’s SRQ Magazine’s top youth leaders based on their values, determination and outstanding achievements in different aspects of their lives in and out of school.

Diego M, a senior at Pine View School, joined the Fab Lab in his sophomore year at the urging of his friend who was a current volunteer. He has taken part in a variety of programs, including the RC Car Committee, the Student Proposals and Education Committee (SPEC), and the Student Community Innovation Project (SCIP). Outside of school and the Fab Lab, he enjoys playing frisbee and soccer as well as working on engineering projects for the fun of it. This past year he served as the Team Captain of his high school robotics team, Jungle Robotics, and after a year of not meeting due to COVID-19, they came back stronger than ever and won the Judge’s Award for their robot design. Diego spends much of his time mentoring younger volunteers so they will be equipped to continue the legacy he helped build. Diego was also part of the inaugural Student Community Innovation Program class in 2020 where he helped build an educational website teaching elementary school students about COVID-19 safety.

We asked Diego about his goads for the future.

"My goal for the future is to become a mechanical engineer working around the world and not in one consistent place," he said. "That may be a bold dream, but I’ve always been one to enjoy traveling and not staying stationary in a specific location. I want to get out there and see the world and do the things that I love like engineering and frisbee and making friends and being spontaneous. There’s so much to do, and I’m excited for my future experiences. I also hope to establish new friendships along the way while keeping my old ones and to leave impacts on the communities that I visit, create, and learn from."

Pictured: Diego M, a senior at Pine View School. Photo by Wyatt Kostygan.