Joshua Gonzales Barrios has always had high expectations for himself, and competition drives him to be the best he can be.
“He pushes himself and strives for nothing less than excellence in all he does,” said Renita GriffinJordan, his principal at the City of Medicine Academy. “A time came when he began to feel overwhelmed and realized the need to put more balance in his life and responsibilities. He learned to see life as less of a competition and more of a challenge. His lesson wasn’t to stop challenging himself, but to do it differently. As he believes, ‘Challenges build character, and character is gold.’”
Gonzales Barrios said he works to balance his studies, sports, choice commitments like student government, and volunteer work.
“Giving back to the community is an important part of being a citizen,” he said. “My parents ingrained this into me when I was younger, and it’s only become more vital to who I am since I’ve been a member of my school’s NHS chapter.”
Gonzales Barrios said he thought he’d like to become a biomedical engineer, but has been considering other options after receiving career advice.
“One thing I’m sure of, however, is that I want to major in a science field, and I plan to do a lot more shadowing to discover how exactly I’ll achieve my dream life,” he said.