06:59 AM CDT on Tuesday, June 8, 2010

By WENDY HUNDLEY / The Dallas Morning News

whundley@dallasnews.com

Seferino Rojas breaks into a wide grin when he talks about his youngest daughter, Leticia. She is the salutatorian of the 2010 class at Lewisville High School who will continue her education at Harvard University in the fall.

Attending an Ivy League school is an achievement for any student, but for the Rojas family, the accomplishment is particularly sweet.

Rojas, who works in an auto body shop, finished only the fifth grade in his native Mexico. His wife, Celina, who works as a housekeeper, completed sixth grade before she had to quit school to help take care of her eight younger siblings.

"It's the American dream, owning your own house, and having something better for your children," said Rojas, who first came to the U.S. to work in 1977 and has permanent residency status. "The dream is coming true."

Leticia, who was born in Dallas, said it was her father's strong work ethic that inspired her to work hard and excel at her studies. She is graduating with a 4.0 grade point average and has a full scholarship to Harvard, where she plans to study neuroscience.

"He never let me be late or lazy," Leticia said, sitting with her family in their modest Lewisville home. "He says, 'Better be an hour early than a minute late.' "

The lessons have not been lost on Leticia's older sisters either. Laura, 22, graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington where she majored in international business and French. Maria, 26, graduated from the University of North Texas and is a certified public accountant.

Leticia, 18, set her sights on an Ivy League school at an early age.

"She has been dreaming to go to Harvard," her proud father says in halting English. "It was too much for us. I told her she could do it herself if she worked hard."

When he attended grade school, Rojas was distracted by other concerns.

"I tell them, 'When I was your age, I had animals to feed on the farm,' " he said. "When I was in school, I was always thinking about how I was going to get food for the cows."

He said he wanted his children to be able to attend school without such worries.

'School is your job'

"My dad always told me, 'School is your job,' " Leticia said. "It made me more motivated. I wanted to do well to show them that I appreciated what they did for me."

Laura Rojas described her sister as independent and self-motivated, often spending hours at the public library and burning the midnight oil with her studies.

Karen Heid Cooke, an English teacher at Lewisville High School, said Leticia is a "bright star" who stands out, even in a class of gifted and talented students.

"Leticia is the one who impresses me, a 30-year teacher, every time she turns in an assignment, because the work is always her best effort and precisely done," the teacher said in an e-mail.

The strong values she's learned from her family have given her a keen sense of purpose for her life, said Shaily Mosby, a counselor at the high school.

'Sky's the limit'

"Another person in her circumstances could have easily gone in another direction," Mosby said. "She's overcome so many things, but she doesn't look at it that way. She doesn't think she's different than anyone else."

"She wants to make a difference in the world, and the sky's the limit for her," Mosby said. "She's going to do great things, I have no doubt."

Leticia, who hopes to one day conduct research into neurological diseases, said she appreciates the talent she's been given and wants to put it to good use.

"This is a gift God gave me," she said. "And I don't want to waste it."

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1332736&forum_id=1#15192926)