Antonio Medina wanted to give himself the best chance he could to attend the college of his choice, so he applied to several places.
“You can be a top candidate but still, it’s really tough to get in. They get more top candidates than they can accept. Sometimes, it comes down to luck,” said Medina, who will be graduating soon from Wiregrass Ranch High.
(Courtesy of the Medina family)
So, he applied to scores of schools, including the University of South Florida, the University of Central Florida, the University of Florida, as well as to such colleges as Princeton, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Harvard and Yale.
Brown University sent him a letter saying he would likely be accepted, Medina said.
“We were so excited about the letter. That was so amazing. We were happy with that,” he said.
On the day that the colleges announce their decisions, Medina and his mom, Sandra, were sitting at three computers, waiting.
“So, I checked Brown. I got accepted, so I was happy,” Medina said.
“We checked Penn and Columbia and Princeton. None of those.
“Then I checked Yale and got in. I was super surprised.
“I checked Harvard last. I was like, ‘Let’s just see.’ ”
And he got into Harvard, too.
“I was speechless,” his mom said. “I’m never going to forget that day.”
Medina also received full-ride offers from USF, UCF and UF.
So, then it was a matter of choosing where he would go.
He and his dad, Alfredo, visited Harvard and Yale.
Then, Medina made his final choice.
“They’re both great schools. You can’t go wrong with either school,” Medina said. “It came down to, which school did I feel better at?”
He chose Yale.
“I was more at home there,” said the Wesley Chapel resident.
He is excited about his academic future.
“The caliber of education is through the roof,” said Medina. “You have world-class professors. I could be a roommate with a future president.”
Medina ranked second in the class of 2015 at Wiregrass and also was named the school’s Most Outstanding Senior.
In addition to his academic accomplishments, he was catcher on the school’s baseball team, drum major for the marching band and a member of the jazz band.
On top of all that, he has worked for his mom and dad’s business, Gator Fred’s, a fun and party center in Carrollwood.
“I helped them since I was 7. I’ve seen what it is like to manage a business, to work in a service — entrepreneurial, all that stuff, since I was a child,” Medina said.
That work has left an indelible impression on him.
“Probably because of the influence of my family, I want to go my own way, work for myself, create something that could be my own business, or create something new that would be completely under my wing,” he said.
He describes what he has gained by working in the family business in one of the essays he wrote for his college applications.
He details how the business started at the family’s home and has evolved into its own location, Gator Fred’s, a fun and party center in Carrollwood. He then explains the impact that working in the family business has had on him.
“The establishment of Gator Fred’s didn’t just enhance what my childhood had been. The store engraved in me a vital essence of my character,” he wrote.
“With my own bare hands, I helped my family turn an enormous, empty shell of what was once a Bealls Outlet into a beautiful playground of colors and bounce houses and train rides and joy.
“This experience taught me how to manage a business before I was even a teenager. “More importantly, it showed me how to take pride in building something bigger than myself.
“Every weekend that I spent there, instead of with friends, I remained aware that this place was what provided for our food, our house, our lives.
“I never took for granted what I had. I knew the value of hard work and persistence.
“My parents taught me the dangers of taking risks but also the courage needed to make the leap. For them, I will always be grateful,” Medina’s essay says.
The young man’s success in academics began when he was young.
He said he’s always been a good student, except for during kindergarten.
“We had just moved here (from Venezuela). I was 5 and I just learned English.
“The only problem was now, I wouldn’t shut up. I just kept talking. I’d get in trouble for being too talkative,” he recalled.
His mom recalls finding out about the problem.
“The lady called me and said, ‘He is too talkative,’ ” she said. “He would talk with an empty chair.”
His mom decided to nip the problem in the bud.
She put his toys in a bag and pretended to throw them out.
“I did better in school,” Medina said. “And my toys magically reappeared.”
Apparently, the lesson stuck.
“Being good in school is good. Learning for the sake of learning is good,” he said.
Medina is graduating from Wiregrass Ranch on May 31. His younger brother, Andres, will be attending the high school next year.
Medina’s mom is clearly ecstatic about her son’s academic accomplishments.
His dad is proud, too.
“My dad has worn the same Yale shirt for the past four days,” Medina said. “It says ‘Yale Dad’.”
Published May 6, 2015