Pictured: Akiel R., junior at Sarasota Military Academy. 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 have been chosen as 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.

Akiel is a current junior at Sarasota Military Academy. He joined the Boys & Girls Club to deepen his involvement with the community and to make a difference. An active participant in volunteer programs, Akiel has witnessed firsthand the difference a group of driven teens can make within their community. Akiel is currently enrolled in BGCSDC’s STAR Leadership Training Program and is an active member of Youth Council.

We asked Akiel about his goals for the future.

"After graduating, I’d like to go to the University of Florida or the U.S. Military Academy," he said. "After that, I hope to go to law school. My top pick would be Yale or Harvard. I would like to become a JAG (Judge Advocate General) lawyer. I’ve worked pretty hard throughout high school to get where I’m at so being nominated as a leader means so much to me." 

Pictured: Akiel R., junior at Sarasota Military Academy. Photo by Wyatt Kostygan.