Hialeah-Miami Lakes students to attend elite universities

Education By Alexandra Herrera, Reporter Thursday, January 16, 2025

     Three Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School students will be heading to competitive schools in Cambridge, Mass. this fall. 

     Harvard College accepted Maurits Acosta and Roberto Carmona in Dec. 2024; Michael Cuba will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after receiving a QuestBridge scholarship. 

     Maurits, 17, of Hialeah, is vice chair of the Miami Lakes Youth Activities Task Force and founded a nonprofit organization, Virtutem Populo, which promotes civics education for high school students. 

     Maurits also serves as the student advisor to the Miami-Dade County School Board and is an officer for the school’s 

Parent-Teacher-Student Association. At college, he plans to major in government and then to attend law school. 

     Roberto, 17, of Hialeah, serves as president of Miami-Dade County Public Schools Student Government and is part of HML’s 

Science National Honor Society and the Spanish Honor Society, a media release from the school said. 

     He is currently part of the school’s legal magnet program and plans to pursue a double major in government and romance languages. Roberto aspires to serve as a diplomat representing the United States at the United Nations, according to the school. He is the first person in his family to attend college.

     Michael, 17, from Opa-Locka, will study engineering at MIT. He is a percussion section leader for HML’s Trojan Marching Band and is part of the school’s 

National Honor Society and chess team. 

     QuestBridge helps high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds attend summer courses and obtain college scholarships, internships and mentors.