MONROE, N.C. -- Laura Rebolledo is a “super senior.”

  • When she graduates in the spring from Union County Early College in Monroe, she'll not only have a high school diploma she'll have an associates degree.
  • She took high school classes her first couple years then moved into classes at South Piedmont Community College.
  • Now she's getting other students involved through a club she started called "Smile Club"

She's a 13th grader and when she graduates in the spring from Union County Early College in Monroe, she'll not only have a high school diploma but she'll also have an associate's degree.

She took high school classes her first couple of years then moved into classes at South Piedmont Community College.

It's a big accomplishment, especially considering where she was not too long ago.

“Safety there wasn't good at all actually,” Laura said. “It was very dangerous to even want to go to the movies with your friends.”

She grew up in Mexico but attended a high school that had violence. It's one reason her family came to the United States.

Ten years later she couldn't be happier.

“It's actually surreal to believe where I am,” Laura said.

Now she's getting other students involved through a club she started called "Smile Club."

It raises money for "Operation Smile" which provides free surgeries for children and young adults who are born with a cleft lip or palate. It's an inexpensive procedure but more than 90 percent of kids without it can die before they are 20.

The Smile Club's fundraising has already led to five surgeries.

“Laura has shown that you can have this tenacity and you can have this drive,” said Union County Early College Chemistry Teacher Tonya Adams.

That drive has taken Laura far. So it means that she's not stopping. Once she gets that associates degree, she's headed to a medical degree to hopefully travel the world for Doctors Without Borders.

“If you keep comparing your struggles to other people you will never end up facing your struggles yourself and grow from them,” Laura said.

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