Dario PeraltaNineteen-year-old Darío Peralta has lived in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Lathrop, California, and New York City. But he found his educational home at Eugenio María de Hostos Community College.

Born in Honduras and reared by his hard-working parents and grandparents, Dario moved to New York City with his family at the age of 10. After living and studying in California before returning to the Bronx and enrolling at Hostos Community College at 17.

Looking to make a positive impact, Darío joined the Hostos Student Leadership Academy in his freshman year. After participating in the Hostos Emerging Leaders Program in the spring of 2012, he was promoted to the Hostos Student Ambassador Program in the fall.

Also a participant in national conferences, Dario was a member of a team of delegates that represented Italy at the National Model United Nations (NMUN) in Washington D.C. in the fall of 2012. He and his fellow delegates raised $1,000 as part of their participation in the New York Conference. In the spring of 2013 he was one of three “Head Delegates” for the team that represented Costa Rica at NMUN in New York.

After serving as Campus Affairs Commissioner in the 2013-2014 Student Government Association, he was elected President in the spring 2014 semester. He also has participated in the CUNY Emerging Leaders Conference, the CUNY New Leadership Challenge, the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, and the SOMOS El Futuro Conference in Albany with members of the University Student Senate.

Darío is one of 17 students elected to serve as a representative of the college in the 2013 Student Elections. He has also served as a delegate to the University Student Senate. Most recently, he was one of ten candidates elected to a second term in the Student Government Association, where he will serve as Vice President for Academic Affairs/Chair of Senate.

Beyond the college, his charity work has included serving the hungry and preparing meals at Part of the Solution Soup Kitchen, preparing healthy food packages at the Yorkville Common Pantry, painting a mural in Hunts Point Park, and participating in activities to celebrate the Americans with Disabilities Act at Queens College.

Among many other honors, Darío received the Vice Chancellor's Excellence in Leadership Award for 2013, an annual award given to two students from each CUNY Campus who exhibit exemplary leadership qualities.

Active in his church, Darío is also a member of Phi Theta Kappa International Honors Society, the Alpha Kappa Tau Chapter, and a recipient of the Carlos and Eddie González Merit Scholarship Award.

Through his involvement with ASAP (Accelerated Study in Associate Program), he helps to motivate fellow students to earn their degrees as soon as possible.

Darío hopes to enroll in a senior college in spring 2015, where he will study biology before going to a medical school to become a doctor.