Violinist, academic, swimmer, law enforcer.
And first to graduate high school in her family.
“If it weren’t for my family, I wouldn’t be here,” says Alondra Mireles of Dearborn, Michigan, the product of a family that had not reached the same level of achievement. But they, good friends, teachers and tutors helped support her to maintain above a 3.0 grade-point average all four years at Dearborn High School in Michigan.
High school in the U.S. is competitive, and maintaining good grades is only part of the job. Many high schools require students to participate in community service, an extracurricular to impart a sense of giving in a young person. For Mireles, that service has nudged her onto a career path.
“After I graduate, I plan on going to the National Guard and possibly getting a job with the military police,” Mireles says. “Ever since I started doing a lot of community service, I knew that I really liked to help people.”
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Alondra Mireles
Volunteering and helping people are not just school requirements or a resume filler. Research shows that people who volunteer or show altruism at work are generally happier than others.
"Our findings make a simple but profound point about altruism: helping others makes us happier," says University of Wisconsin-La Follette professor Donald Moynihan in a release. "Altruism is not a form of martyrdom, but operates for many as part of a healthy psychological reward system."
Mireles concurs.
"Obviously in the United States, there’s a lot of need. Pretty much anywhere in the world there’s a lot of need to help people,” she says. “There’s a need for leaders and for people to step up and take that charge.”