Rotarian Vincent Chiravalle presents a Distinguished Student of Service certificate to LAHS junior Estevan Trujillo, on behalf of the Rotary Club of Los Alamos as his parents, Araceli and Adam Trujillo, share the moment, May 2, at Cottonwood on the Greens. Photo by Linda Hull.
BY VINCENT CHIRAVELLE
Rotary Club of Los Alamos
The motto of Rotary is Service Above Self. To support this motto in each academic year, the Rotary Club of Los Alamos honors “Distinguished Students of Service” in their junior year of high school. Students are first nominated by their teachers who are asked to select those who:
- Have given positive contributions to their high school and/or in the community;
- Have a good attitude toward learning;
- Are good citizens, are respectful of their peers and teachers; and
- Have good grades, attendance and classroom participation.
The Club then selects students based on demonstrated spirit of service and exemplification of the Rotary 4 Way Test:
- Is it the truth?
- Is it fair to all concerned?
- Will it build good will and better friendships?
- Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
On May 2, the Rotary Club of Los Alamos presented Estevan Trujillo, a Los Alamos High School junior with a Distinguished Student of Service award. Estevan is indeed one who has made service part of his life and is also a very well-rounded student. Estevan is an officer with Natural Helpers and volunteers with Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, where he has helped with Vacation Bible School for two summers. Estevan is a versatile student athlete who completes on the varsity baseball team and the junior varsity cross country team. In addition to these activities Estevan worked at the local Papa Murphy’s restaurant.
In his essay Estevan shared with the Club one of the challenges facing today’s youth; namely a fear of failure. Estevan talked about the weight of expectations, pursuing “true perfection”, and how this can bring about anxiety which can destroy one’s potential. Estevan described how Natural Helpers helps to alleviate these fears and anxieties as follows, “Our main goal in Natural Helpers is to teach our peers it’s okay to be themselves and to learn from their mistakes instead of fearing them. We are able to accomplish this by providing a safe spot for students, hosting school activities to allow students to relax and escape the monotonous routines of everyday life, giving advice, and comforting anyone seeking guidance in how to cope with stress. Although these are small forms of community service, the impact they have on individuals is absolutely tremendous.”
The Rotary Club of Los Alamos feels that this is a very worthy effort and commends Estevan for his service to the youth in Los Alamos.
When receiving the award Estevan was joined by his mother Araceli Trujillo and his father Adam Trujillo. Rotarian Vincent Chiravalle conducted the award ceremony. LAHS teacher James Steritz nominated Estevan for the award.