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Immigrant parents are role models for WR valedictorian
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WESTON RANCH – Serbinder Singh does not have to look far and wide for his role models in facing life’s vicissitudes. They are his own parents – mother Daleep Kaur and father Gurinder Singh Bola.

They are his “main role models,” said the valedictorian of Weston Ranch High School’s Class of 2012.

“They are very successful individuals and I look up to them to guide me in my future. I learned to follow their successes, and learn from their failures,” Singh said of his parents who came to the United States 20 years ago in search of the proverbial greener pastures.

Singh, who is the older of two siblings, knows exactly what direction he wants to go in his professional life. He plans to be a successful civil engineer. That desire was a major factor in choosing the university where he will pursue his engineering education. All the colleges where he submitted applications would have helped him fulfill that lifelong dream – the University of California campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Los Angeles, Irvine, San Diego, as well as the two California Polytechnic State universities – Cal Poly Pomona, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. All except UC Berkeley sent him letters of acceptance.

“I decided to go to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo,” said Weston Ranch’s academic achiever and athletics star.

He chose the San Luis Obispo campus “because I instantly fell in love with the campus, and because of the fact that it is one of the top engineering colleges in the West Coast and (the) world,” explained Singh who received a $1,000 cash college scholarship. He is also the recipient of a math scholarship from his alma mater.

Academics is not the only field where he excelled at Weston Ranch High in French Camp. He also distinguished himself in sports.

“Making it into the playoffs for the first time in our boys’ tennis team history” was definitely a highlight of his senior year, Singh said.

“We had a great season and it made me improve as a person.”

He also played on the Varsity Tennis team for four years. Tennis is one of his hobbies; he also plays basketball for recreation during his free time.

His other hobbies are more laidback and less strenuous – reading, “hanging out with friends,” and playing video games.

Besides sports, he was involved in a number of campus extracurricular activities. He was a part of Friday Night Live at school for two years. He was also a member of the Cougars Against Cancer and Key Club. And he parlayed his excellence in math into something philanthropic – he was a math tutor for two years.

As graduation nears when he and his classmates have to say goodbye as they move on to the next chapter in their lives, Singh will have his recent class trip to Magic Mountain to help him remember the magic days with his friends. In addition to making it to the tennis playoffs during his senior year, “going to Magic Mountain with my fellow classmates during grad night” is the other highlight of his last year in high school.

“It was a ton of fun and I got to spend time with my friends for what may be the last time,” Singh said.