Daniel Borunda:  

Hi all, I enjoyed my years at Nogales H.S. and I was truly sad to leave. As most of you know, I graduated a year early and moved on to bigger and brighter journeys and challenges. I was brought up to be an over achiever and throughout my education I was singled out and placed in various programs of higher education. In elementary, I was placed with Mentally Gifted Minors (MGM), in Junior H.S., I was placed in the Advanced Learning Program (ALP), and in high school I was again placed with ALP. I was among the top academic students at Nogales H.S. That posed a personal challenge. Where does one go when your classmates are at the same level intellectually? Not much room for competition when we were all at the same level. So, when I saw the opportunity to graduate one year earlier than my classmates; I had to go for it. Unfortunately, I missed, out on, a lot of senior moments, dances, and events. I never had the opportunity to attend my senior prom or attend grad night and spend the day with my classmates at Disneyland. I left Nogales H.S. and immediately began attending Cal Poly Pomona University. After receiving my bachelor's degree in engineering, I enlisted into the US Air Force and I served 4 years as an officer and a gentleman. I was stationed in England and I served the remainder of my duty traveling the world. My job assignment was in Electronics Intelligence and I was given the distinct honor of serving alongside civilian personnel from the Department of Defense. I hardly got to serve my time wearing my military uniform. I had to settle for a suit and a tie so that I would blend in with government employees and that was when I was on base, but when the pager went off and I had to rush to an awaiting aircraft destined for classified destinations, then I had to wear the clothing of that province or region. When you are in the Air Force the world is a small place. When you are expected to be the eyes and ears of our government, the world can be a scary place. Imagine being in a region that is in turmoil and in the midst of a coupe or ...Expand for more