Recent Cape Central High School graduate Dulina Dias has accomplished a lot throughout his short life.
The son of two Sri Lankan immigrants, 18-year-old Dias was heavily encouraged by his parents to participate in various activities and athletics. Dias' resume extends over 3 1/2 pages, detailing dozens of experiences and accomplishments, both in and out of school.
"From a young age, my parents have really pushed me to do so many different things," Dias said. "I mixed and mingled in different sports and extracurriculars, and I didn't get bored with any of them. Coming into high school, I just continued doing as much as I could and seeing how much I could achieve in each."
At Cape Central, Dias was the team captain of the scholar bowl team, qualified for Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) nationals, won the BETA Club state spelling bee competition and qualified for nationals, played percussion in the marching and concert bands, scored a 33 out of 36 on the ACT, was listed as an honorable mention on the Missouri Top 100 Scholars list, finished in the top five in his class, competed in three varsity sports and the list goes on.
Through his academic prowess, Dias was awarded more than $35,000 in scholarships, which he will use to pay for his post-secondary education at the University of Missouri.
"It truly means a lot (to receive so much money)," Dias said. "I've thanked those organizations countless times. … I think I've made them proud as well, in the sense that they are glad to have a student like me, both diverse and intelligent, to expand their growth and allow me to afford college."
Cape Central principal Drew Church praised Dias for his academic success, leadership and contributions to the high school community.
"His involvement in extracurriculars and his service-minded approach set him apart," Church said. "We’re confident that his dedication and character will lead to success in whatever path he pursues, and make a meaningful impact along the way."
Outside of school, Dias has more than 200 hours of service across Boy Scouts and community organizations such as the Sri Lankan Association Midwest and the Upakara Charitable Foundation, and has received a Congressional Bronze Medal. According to Dias, his greatest accomplishment was achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.
"I'm most proud of it because of the percentage of Eagle Scouts and how tough of a path it is," Dias said. "Lately, it's been sort of unrecognized, so I want more and more people to realize that the scouting program is great, and Eagle Scouts have achieved so much."
Inspired by his love of sports, Dias plans to study biomedical engineering and go through the school's pre-med certification program. Dias' father, Dharshaka, has degrees in computer science and mathematics from Southeast Missouri State University and introduced him to various computer programming methods and tools. However, at around the age of 13, Dias discovered he wasn't very interested in computer science.
"I kind of wanted to explore on my own and see what my strengths were," Dias said. "I realized I'm pretty good at biology and I'm pretty good at chemistry. Those are some two subjects I think I do pretty well in. But I also didn't want to specifically go into biology or chemistry, since I still have that creative engineering mindset. I found that good balance in biomedical engineering. My cross country coach (Colin Sheridan), who's also the engineering teacher at the Cape Career and Technology Center, implemented the engineering ideals behind the reasons we run, inserting the scientific method into our training plan and everything.
"While I do believe in being an engineer, I still think I have strengths in other areas. I plan on going into pre-med because I think if engineering doesn't work out, I can become a doctor and do some great things. I've shadowed an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Andrew Trueblood. My brother's friends with his son, so we've known them for a long time. He also helped me figure out and connect the pieces between the sports medicine and biomechanics, which is the track I plan on taking specifically for biomedical engineering."
When not participating in his various extracurricular activities, Dias enjoys running, playing and introducing his friends to cricket, trivia, watching movies, keeping up with his favorite sports teams and visiting national parks with his family.
"We're very outdoorsy and we love going to national parks," Dias said. "Whenever we get a vacation, we really try to keep that family connection close. … This summer we went to Rocky Mountain National Park and that's probably one of my favorites."
Dias' mother, Pratibha, expressed pride in her son and praised his accomplishments.
"He is a really hard-working kid," Pratibha said. "He takes his time, he researches and he puts all of himself into something when he wants to do it. …
"Our parents always were behind us in everything, so I think that influenced us to be behind (our children) too. We give them space, of course, and then let them try and see whether they like it or not. We have given them the opportunity as much as possible to explore everything and then decide what they want to."
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