Natalia Mercado, a senior in the School for Advanced Studies at West Campus, was honored by city of Doral councilwoman Christi Fraga on Oct. 11. The certificate recognizes Mercado’s leadership and service through academics, extracurricular activities and community service, specifically in organization Edu-cities and Girls Support Girls projects.
Mercado, 17, decided to take initiative through a project she called Edu-cities when she noticed there were many immigrants who weren’t knowledgeable about the college application process. She teamed up with her sister and other volunteers to provide workshops and free SAT and ACT tutoring for people who could not afford it.
In addition to this, she traveled to Bolivia in order to teach English to orphans and donated clothing and educational materials to an orphanage. Mercado called the project Girls Support Girls to the importance of female education.
Though Mercado aspires to become a veterinarian, she was inspired by Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Prize winner and female education activist, to step out of her comfort zone and serve the community by focusing on education.
