We walked into a classroom at the School for Advanced Studies packed with more than 30 high school juniors. At the front of the class, a group of seniors is holding court, giving pointers to their peers on how to apply for college.

“Write an essay that shows who you are,” said Raul Campos, one of the seniors, who’s bound for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

When you’re number one in the senior class, on the way to MIT, your advice to your classmates matters.

“They all look up to him because they know what he exemplifies, which is academic excellence,” said Dennis Lindsay, the school’s Silver Knight coordinator.

“It makes me feel proud, it makes me feel accomplished,” Raul said.

Every student at the School for Advanced Studies, a public high school for juniors and seniors only, earns an AA degree along with a high school diploma. It’s not easy to stand out in a school full of standouts, but Raul’s friends say he does it with brilliance and by inspiring others to help follow his example of helping others. 

“Above everything else, and above how smart he is and genius, he is so kind and he is so helpful and he’s always the first one to go help,” said fellow senior Sofia Casas.

“If you don’t know something, and you’re maybe afraid, he’ll like directly just come up to you and help you with it,” said Dannel Lopez, who’s also going to MIT in the fall.

Raul started martial arts in middle school, and now he mentors and tutors kids at the karate school.

“That feeling of seeing your kids learn and get motivated, it’s kind of the same, those little kids, I see them like little brothers,” Raul said.

So Raul inspires those around him, but from where does he draw inspiration? It comes from his parents, how they struggled to bring him from Cuba to the United States, from nothing to opportunity.

“They didn’t have to bring me here, they could’ve left me in Cuba, do whatever they want, have a simple life in Cuba, they came here to struggle for me, and it’s all just about repaying for them,” Raul said.

Raul’s father didn’t get to see his son get accepted to his dream school. He passed away last school year, and now Raul wears motivation every day. His father’s ring is on his finger.

“And now that he’s not here I want to do everything that I had promised him and more, I want to show him up there wherever he is, that he can be proud of his son,” Raul said.

Going to MIT to study artificial intelligence and be a role model among his peers? There’s no doubt, Raul, that your dad is beaming with pride.