LFHS Salutatorian Spotlight: Alexandra Montes

By LFCISD

Parents: Ida Montes and Jose Montes

Sibling: Jodi (15)

Previous schools attended: Palmer-Laakso Elementary and Los Cuates Middle School

College: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Major: Chemistry

Post-bachelor’s degree: Medical doctor
Inspiration for academic success: In seventh grade, I learned about one of my friend’s older sisters and how amazing she was doing in school. The majority of her grades were near perfect, and I wanted to be able to say the same thing about myself. I decided to commit myself to always try my hardest and do my best.

Study habits: I can be a heavy procrastinator at times. I try to prioritize the most important pieces of work that I know will take a lot of time to do. As a last resort, I will work during the school day if I know an assignment is short and simple. I try to work around my schedule and work on small pieces of assignments in between my extracurricular activities. In the end, I usually end up having late nights filled with homework.

Career plans: As of now, I have hopes to become a pediatrician. I have always wanted to help people, and I learned I really like working with kids through my experiences as a girl scout camp counselor. My main focus is on chemistry as it has always interested me that interactions between tiny particles are capable of creating big impacts on the world.

Advice to younger students to succeed academically: I probably started focusing strongly on academics my junior year. I began taking more rigorous classes and I really had to settle down to understand the material. My advice to students is that you find the right friends. The main reason I made it through high school was my friends. Everyone had their own specialty, so if someone had trouble with a topic, another person would help explain it. This often helped both people understand better. The best friends you can have will encourage you to do your best and remind you when you need to relax.