If you were to ask me what a typical high schooler was like, I’d probably say, a student that simply gets through the week,  doesn’t learn anything, but just wants the grade for the future. I will admit, I’m like that, and to be fair, many high schoolers across America are that way. But one person that exemplifies the opposite of that attitude is Diego Miguel Carrasco. You can tell just by looking at him that he isn’t the typical student. With the exception of one day each week, Diego wears khaki pants along with a long sleeved button up collared shirt, with either a black or navy blue vest over the top. The impression you get from him is, he dresses for the future. He is a perfect example of someone that will “dress to impress.”

“Do what others don’t today, do what others can’t tomorrow,” Carrasco said. “You have to raise your standards. That’s one of the first steps to having a successful life. You have to raise your standards in every aspect of life. From what you eat, to how you dress, how you behave, and your mind. If you want to become better at the end of the day, you have to start by being better as a person.”

Diego has big plans for when he graduates high school. He has aspirations to run his own business after attending the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school. Diego knows the work he has to put into one day get to where he wants to be. And thanks to his family, he is fully capable of getting to that point, but not in the way you would think.

“My whole life I was told no,” Carrasco said. “I was told I could not have things, so at one point I said I would get those things they said I could never have. So many people in my family wanted to be great. But then stuff happened and they couldn’t. So I said I want to be the one in my family to say that I made it.”

Most students in school have support from their entire family. They want to see their son or daughter succeed in life. But in the case of Carrasco, that group is limited, but that just pushes him even more to want to be the best.

“My family doesn’t really care, “ Carrasco said. “My sister and my grandfather are the only people who really want me to be great. The rest of my family wants to see me fail just because they did. So I don’t pay attention to them. I move past it, and I know one day I will prove them wrong.”

Tough times with his family have brought Diego to the point he is today. He was raised in part by a single mother who made some poor decisions that caused Diego to live with his grandparents in Cleveland, Missouri. He has expressed that the one person in life he looks up to is his sister. She started her own business, and according to Diego, they both have very similar outlooks on life and similar personalities.

“I’d like to say that the tough times I went through helped shape my personality,” Carrasco said. “My personality is absolutely one of a kind. I’m not trying to say that I’m special, but never have I met someone like me. The only one that is similar to me is my sister. We took a personality test and we actually have the same personality type, which by itself is incredibly rare.”

Even though he and his sister are very similar, Carrasco elaborates about how a lot of the time it is him fighting battles alone. But his mind is in the right place, and he knows the circumstances of each tough time he faces.

“But we’re still not the same,” Carrasco said. “And with the struggle of not having anyone to relate to comes the strength of being able to depend on yourself and yourself alone. A quality all students should have, as there’s only one of you in this world and you’re the only one. You only have one chance to live, so use that time to leave an impact on others.”