Two Victory Life Academy students were honored Thursday as nominees for the Youths of Inspiration Award at Bruner Auto Group. The Youths of Inspiration Award recognizes young men and young ladies from area high schools who have overcome significant life circumstances and having the courage, discipline and stamina to fight past those obstacles to make impressive achievements in school.
Recipients Destiny Salazar and Sem-Oscar Joseph are both juniors at Victory Life Academy.
Destiny was born to a single mother who was unable to meet her basic needs. Destiny’s grandmother has raised her and helped her to move on with her life.
As her grandmother has been a foster parent for 10 children in recent years, Destiny has become foster-sister to those 10 children as well, loving them with a tender heart and compassion as one who has been there.
During her sophomore year, Destiny began having health challenges and was diagnosed with a thyroid condition that caused chronic fatigue. She is too much of a go-getter than to allow this to slow her down. Now in her junior year, Destiny has been a junior high and high school cheerleader. She has played major role in many theater productions, plays in the chapel band, plays basketball and has run track. She has represented Victory Life Academy at both district and state levels in various topics including impromptu speaking, prose, and solo acting.
She has served on the Ignite Team at Victory Life Church, providing leadership for Children’s Church, and has been on the Praise and Worship Team for five years, ministering to youths through music. As a community volunteer, she was the first youth in Brown County to raise $1,000 for Relay for Life at the age of just 9.
Destiny will graduate from Victory Life Academy in spring 2015 and plans to be the first person in her family to graduate from college, with a degree in public relations and communications.
Sem-Oscar Joseph has led a remarkable young life of his own. He was born in Port Au Prince, Haiti. At age 11, he wandered away from his aunt’s home and got lost. He was taken to an orphanage, where was raised.
He survived the massive earthquake in 2010, and that led him to meet two missionaries, Curtis and Christina Petty, who were serving in Haiti at that time. Sem-Oscar won their hearts and they brought him here to Brownwood as their own adopted son.
He has learned English and has become extremely involved at Victory Life Academy. He has played varsity football for 3 years and has been all-district on offense and defense which is quite an achievement for a young man who did not know what a football was when he came here.
Sem-Oscar has made all-district honorable mention in varsity basketball, and he has finished 2nd and 3rd at the state track meet. His interests extend beyond athletics, as he has been a stage assistant with the Victory Life Academy school play.
Sem-Oscar works at Walmart and has worked during summertime at Victory Life Church. He also volunteers in the community at Good Samaritan.
One of his dreams is to graduate from college, become successful, and then return to Haiti and help his native people. Sem-Oscar will be the first member of his family to graduate from college.
Also present at the awards presentation was Victory Life Academy Superintendent Ceil Patton and Jim Stanley from Bruner Auto Family. Greg Bruner, President of Bruner Auto Family was not able to be present at the awards ceremony; however he stated that these two recipients are inspiring.
“Destiny and Sem-Oscar inspire us as they have overcome obstacles that I can only imagine,” Bruner said. “Their determination to persevere and move forward despite such troubling times in their lives will pay off richly as they advance college and into adulthood. They will be exemplary leaders.”
Bruner Toyota will recognize two students from area high schools each month during this school year. Each monthly honoree will receive a certificate in the showroom of Bruner Auto Group.
Each student must be in good standing with his/her high school and be an exemplary citizen. Individual campus counselors recommend their school recipients of the Youths of Inspiration Award.
In mid-May, Bruner Toyota will host a dinner to recognize each of the 20 honorees from the participating campuses. At the event, Bruner Toyota will select one young man and one young woman, who will each receive a $500 scholarship. The school of each selected student will also receive a $500 scholarship donation from Bruner Toyota, for a total of $2,000 presented to individuals and schools.
Pictured above, left to right are Jim Stanley of Bruner Auto Family, Destiny Salazar, Sem-Oscar Joseph, and Victory Life Academy Superintendent Ceil Patton.
