Valentina Perez Araya, the daughter of Karen Araya and Jeremy Perez, has been named the MidAmerica National Bank Senior of the Month for October 2025. Valentina is very involved at school; she is on the girls’ soccer team in the spring. Valentina is the Treasurer for the Ecology Club, the President of the Spanish Club, and a member of the Interact Club. Valentina recently received the Salute to Academic Achievement award from the University of Illinois System.
Community involvement is also very important to Valentina. She helps ESL students with English and Math and shares her ESL story with them to hopefully create motivation within them. In her spare time, she enjoys building Legos with her brothers, solving puzzles, and sewing patches of the places she has traveled to on her backpack.
Following graduation, Valentina plans to go pre-med and major in either Neuroscience, Biomedical Engineering, or Neuro-engineering. Following graduation from a four-year university, she plans to attend Med school and match into Oncology. As the October Senior of the Month, Valentina was presented a cash award of $100.00 and is eligible for the Senior of the Year Award in May 2026.
