Next week, thousands of students will flock to the FIU campuses as the 2007-’08 academic year gets underway. Freshman Danisa Alvarez can’t wait.

The 2007 Southridge Senior High School valedictorian can’t wait to begin her collegiate career at the only university she considered.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” said the native Miamian. “I did not consider any other universities.”

FIU is so proud to welcome this ambitious young woman to the Golden Panther family that we’re featuring her in an ad campaign to run in The Miami Herald. Recently, we met with Alvarez and asked her a few questions about herself and her future plans. Here is an excerpt of the interview:

What it took to be the best in my class:
It took a lot of dedication and time. Yep…a lot of time. My high school career started off really rough. In my sophomore year, I finally realized that education is important. From that point on, I focused all of my attention on my studies.

On starting college at FIU:
I’m excited to start college at FIU. I don’t know how to explain it. I love the environment, the people, the whole feeling.

Where I see myself in five years:
I hope to be working on my master’s degree in accounting. I love math, I love crunching numbers. I plan to become a CPA.

My dream:
I’m from a really good family – I’m blessed. But my parents have been through a lot, so I would like to give back to them because they have given me and my sister so much. I would love to buy a home for my parents since they’ve never owned one. That would be really nice.

Here is a video:

To view the ad, which ran in the August 20th issue of The Miami Herald, please click here to download a PDF file.

You may download Adobe Acrobat Reader from here if needed to view the file.