Move to 'Big City' Doesn't Faze Old Mill Grad

Luis Beltran-Amaya can recall the exact moment he arrived in the United States from El Salvador. 

"March 16, 2011. It was 3:15 p.m.," he says.

Despite coming here with little knowledge of the English language, Beltran-Amaya settled in quickly at Old Mill High School, and was expected to graduate Tuesday with his fellow seniors. 

"In classes like world history and health, I had to actually pay attention to every little thing," he said. "The first time, I didn't really understand. But some people helped me."

He now plans to go on to Anne Arundel Community College to study civil engineering.

"I've always been very interested in roads and bridges," he said. 

Beltran-Amaya lives in Glen Burnie, and said he considers it a big city compared to where he grew up. His high school in El Salvador had just 70 students.

"It was a really rural area," he said. "To get water, we had to go a mile away from the school. The first time they put electricity in my house I was ten years old. And the school bell ... it was a real bell we had to ring."

Beltran-Amaya said he learned to enjoy the outdoors, and that has continued since coming to America, working for two years as a junior counselor at a summer camp. 

While at Old Mill, he also took part in the Hispanic Student Symposium and served as an aide in the foreign language department. 

See other Class of 2013 profiles:

• Old Mill Senior Sets Example for Her Family
• Arundel Grad Chooses Brazil Over Senior Year 
• Old Mill Graduate Finishes a Year Early
• Love of Learning Motivates Old Mill Senior
• Old Mill Grad Builds a Well-Rounded Profile