MULBERRY, Fla. — While the number of Hispanics living in the U.S. more than quadrupled from 1980 to 2021, a report done by the U.S. Census shows graduation rates among Hispanic high school students has also increased, going from a little over 50% to more than 80%.
With more Hispanics receiving those diplomas nationwide, Florida has also seen its graduation rates increase.
Among the most recent batch of graduates are Freddy Bautista Molina and Christian Cortes-Daza, who can be found most days playing a sport they grew up with: soccer.
They’re teaching and volunteering at RCMA Mulberry Community Academy, something they do every day after school.
They say it’s a way for them to give back to the community and inspire younger children.
For Freddy, these moments are times he can connect with children who share his background.
“One of the most prominent things that I remember in the fields is definitely the blazing sun,” he said, describing how he migrating from state to state with his family as they searched for work.
For him, pictures represent where he came from. They’ve also served as motivation for his past four years of high school, where he’s earned a 4.0 every year.
“I definitely feel proud, and I feel proud of my parents for doing everything they could to get me to pursue education," he said. "And because of them, I’m able to obtain all these awards."
After graduation, he will be attending Cornell University to study finance.
Freddy will be the first person in his family to graduate high school, and he said it’s an important moment for him because “our parents come from backgrounds where they have to immigrate here, and as immigrants they’ve done the hard part."
"And now, we have to do our part," he said.
His friend, Christian, said getting to this point hasn’t been easy.
“Especially in our community, where we’ve been sort of stricken by poverty," he said. "These other misfortunes and having something like this is truly special.”
During the past four years, Christian has received countless academic awards, and this year, he is Mulberry High School's valedictorian.
“I’ve seen what life is like without formal education," he said. "I’ve lived through it — I’ve done several jobs working in the sun, you name it."
This fall he’ll be studying at Stanford University — where he plans to study to become an aerospace engineer, so he can one day work for NASA.
“It’s a very proud moment that I do have, because I know I had to put in the work for this and I see now that it is truly paying off," he said.
Whether in a classroom or on the field, both Christian and Freddy say they are following their dreams to inspire the next generation of Hispanic graduates.
Earlier this year, the Florida Department of Education released the numbers for 2023, which show that the Hispanic graduation rate has significantly increased over the past 19 years, from 59% to 88%.