At a time when high school students across Connecticut are scrambling to find work and community service opportunities to put on their resumes, Susana Herrera, 16, of Norwalk, has already spent most of her high school career serving her hometown.
Herrera, a junior at Norwalk High, has been active in the school’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) program and BROWN, another organization that serves Norwalk.
“FBLA is about helping people,” Herrera said. “We do things like read to little kids.”
BROWN, which the schools run with the YMCA, has similar goals. As a member of BROWN, Herrera has participated in local fundraisers and spent time picking up trash in her city.
Herrera said she is starting to feel pressure to choose a career path. While she’s sure she wants to be in college in the fall of 2014, she’s not sure what career to pursue.
“I’m trying to figure out what I want to do, but there’s a lot of pressure in figuring out what you want to do for the rest of your life,’’ Herrera said.
An avid viewer of CSI shows, Herrera has developed an interest in criminal investigations, but also has a passion for working with children.
Her interest in children and family consumer science may have grown out of the strong relationship she has with her own family. She and her parents, Diego and Gloria, and younger sister, Isabel, 12, spend a great deal of time together, often playing board games or going for walks as a family.
Herrera said she is excited to be developing a stronger relationship with Isabel, with whom she has clashed in the past. But as the sisters have gotten older and more mature, Herrera said she has noticed a positive change in their relationship.
When Herrera isn’t spending time with her family or performing community service in Norwalk, she can be found on her school’s field hockey turf or tennis court or at the local movie theater with friends.
“I try not just to stay at home,’’ she said.
Victoria Powers is a 2012 graduate of Tolland High School.