Lina Maria Lenis Gonzalez
J.E.B. Stuart High School
School counselor Virginia Justis remembers being caught by surprise when Lina Maria Lenis Gonzalez, then a sophomore, stopped by the office to introduce herself and spell out her personal goals. “She completely took the initiative,” Justis says. “[She] is a mover and a shaker…who lives by the motto of leaving a place better than you found it.”
Last year, Gonzalez completed a 14-week internship program at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum—an experience that deepened her perspective on issues in her school and community. “In my school, in every school, there is bullying,” the 17-year-old observes. “So I try to raise awareness about bullying and any type of oppression that can lead to problems in society.”
Through her school’s Key Club, a service program she helped establish in 2012, Gonzalez has organized activities ranging from soup kitchen visits to shoe drives that support poor families in Honduras. She served as junior class treasurer, plays for the varsity field hockey team, volunteers as a Spanish tutor, and holds a seat on the Fairfax County Public Schools Student Advisory Council. She also devotes time to the Leadership Council for the school board’s College Partnership Program, which helps minority and first-generation students of immigrant families get into college. (She moved to the U.S. from Colombia at age 5 with her parents, Hector Lenis and Liliana Gonzalez.)
Now a rising senior, Gonzalez plans to study political science in college, attend law school, work as a lawyer and ultimately run for governor. “I would like to get that education to make sure that if one day I have the opportunity to make laws, they can be effective and efficient to truly make a change in the community,” says the teen.
In the meantime, the straight-A student is on a path to earn an International Baccalaureate Diploma. She credits her mom as the inspiration behind her work ethic. “She is the hardest-working person I have ever met,” Gonzalez says. “[She] inspires me to make positive changes so other students will grow up and succeed, and won’t have to work as hard as my mother [does] to support their families.”
—Lindsey Brookbank (photo by Erick Gibson)