Florida Proves to Be “New Hot Spot” for NHI with International CWS

This year’s International Collegiate World Series proved to be true to its name, bringing nearly 130 students from nine states (California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, and Texas), the District of Columbia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Panama to the University of Tampa from July 13-17.

“The International CWS has become NHI’s most popular capstone experience for rising 12th grade students,” said Zachary Gonzalez, Director of Collegiate Affairs for NHI. “Within three years of bringing our program to Tampa, we have reached 100% of our student participation goals and received excellent reviews. It’s safe to say Florida is the new ‘hot spot’ for NHI.

“In fact,” he added, “the International CWS is even NHI’s most diverse summer leadership program with students in attendance from up to ten states, four countries and the District of Columbia. Many student leaders from Tampa, Miami and Fort Lauderdale are now joining as a result of the program’s success. A very special thanks to Marc Nieto, Monica Vasquez, and all of our undergraduate Senior Mentors who played a crucial role in making this experience our most talked about CWS experience this summer. Without their leadership and support, this program would have never been successful.”

“​T​he University has great respect for the quality of students that participate in the event and numerous employees comment on the maturity and academic quality of the students that attend NHI,” said Dennis Nostrand, Vice President for Enrollment Management at the University of Tampa. “The mission of The University of Tampa is to help students balance ‘learning by thinking’ with ‘learning by doing’ — a philosophy that the university clearly shares with NHI.

College representatives from a number of schools participated in the event, including Augustana College, Emory University, Florida International University, Marquette University, Nova Southeastern University, University of Denver, University of Florida, University of Rochester, Vanderbilt University, and Villanova University.

In the competition portion of the program, International CWS students from the Vanderbilt University team won out. Those students included:

Emilio Balderas, Palatine High School, Palatine, Ill.
Maria Chu Noriega, Colegio Real de Panama, Panama City, Panama
Angelica Flores, Young Women’s Leadership Academy, San Antonio, Texas
Carlos Garcia, Alamo Heights High School, Alamo Heights, Texas
Joel Garcia, Holy Cross High School San Antonio, Texas
Tomas Hassan, Colegio Real de Panama, Panama City, Panama
Jocelyn Perez, Round Lake High School, Round Lake, Ill.
Juliette Pérez, Colegio Episcopal de Panama, Panama City, Panama
Samuel Ramirez Perez, Centro Excelencia Prof. Cristina Billini Morales Fe y Alegri, Santo Domingo Norte, Dominican Republic
Jennifer Rivera, Argo Community High School, Summit, Ill.
Ana Von Chong Chavarria, Colegio Real de Panama, Panama City, Panama