MIAMI – High school senior Dhara Patel was always a good student, but she’ll graduate from Plant City High School with an incredible academic accomplishment. Patel has earned a 10.03 GPA, the highest in Hillsborough County, Florida — and perhaps anywhere else.
To reach such a high grade point average, Dhara took 17 AP classes overall, and spent nights, weekends and summers taking classes at Hillsborough Community College. She studied all different subjects, including statistics, history, psychology, calculus and nutrition. She earned her Associate’s degree long before she’s set to receive her high school diploma on June 4.
The Valedictorian’s GPA was so high, the computer system couldn’t recognize 10.03, and defaulted it to a .031, dropping her rank from first in the class to last.
“I just gravitated toward academics,” the 18-year-old tells the Good News blog. “My parents were the ones who encouraged me, but in my junior year I took intuitive to do everything myself.”
[Dhara Patel (Photo: Plant City Observer)] Dhara Patel (Photo: Plant City Observer)Dhara isn’t just ambitious in her studies. She’s also involved in at least seven clubs, and holds leadership roles in half of them. She’s the President of the Future Business Leaders of America and sits on the executive board of Student Government.
Her favorite non-academic activity is Best Buddies, a non-profit program that helps handicapped and mentally impaired children.
She insists that she still found time to go out and be social. “I didn’t want academics to be the only focus,” she says. Dhara will attend the University of Florida in the fall to study microbiology. Unsurprisingly, she received a full scholarship that will cover her tuition costs.
“There were times I wanted to give up, but I figured, I did it for a reason so I might as well stick through it,” she continues. “I’m really happy I did.”
Dhara tells us that the real secret to her success is dedication. “I don’t think I’m the smartest person in the world, but I try really hard and I’m willing to study before and after school. I hope that people hear stories like this and wanna go out and do more things like that.”
Between graduation and college, Dhara plans to spend the summer relaxing — though she admits she still might sneak in some volunteer hours at a hospital.
