18-year-old Joshua Peters is not an average American teenager. Born in Latvia, in North eastern Europe, Joshua woke up in an orphanage one day at the age of two. The home he knew was gone and deemed unfit for children.
For 11 years, Joshua lived at the orphanage with his three sisters until he was adopted by an American family. His mother Jennifer, was part of an organization that traveled to orphanages in Europe to identify kids for eventual adoption by families in the U.S.
Joshua was one of those kids and not long after his arrival in the U.S. he moved to Georgia to live with his adoptive parents and start a new life. He admits adapting to American lifestyle was hard at first. He even changed his name to an American one so he would fit in.
It worked.
“It was always my goal to succeed in life. I wanted to come to America and make something of myself,” Joshua said.
After a few years in Georgia, his father Joel was transferred to Orlando and Joshua started to attend Timber Creek High School. Now a senior, he has conquered many obstacles and dedicates his time to track and cross country and is part of the mock trial club.
Joshua is dually-enrolled at Valencia Community College, where he completed five college courses while still attending high school.
The language barrier did not stop Joshua from getting to where he wanted to be. He is graduating with honors as a Valedictorian of his graduating class with a GPA of 5.3.
“To stand out sometimes you have to make sacrifices,” he said. “It does pay off, and prestige and honor come with it.”
He plans to attend Florida State University in the fall and his love of language and culture is leading him to major in international affairs.
Joshua believes he wouldn’t be where he is today if he hadn’t surrounded himself with people that loved and supported him. His advice to his peers is to always look on the bright side and challenge yourself.
“Keep your dreams high,” he said. “If you set your dreams high, and you are diligent and work at them, you will accomplish great things.”
His short term goal after graduating college is to travel the world, returning to Latvia to see his family.
By Fernanda Barros
