“To me, academics come first. Before I even think about my extracurriculars or anything, I like to always do my homework,” said Maya Patel, summing up her impressively focused philosophy.

Patel is the President of five different clubs: FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America), HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America), Latin Honor Club, Engineering Club, and International Relations, which she co-founded. She is also involved with Mu Alpha Theta, Science National Honors Society, and National Honors Society.

“I like to inspire academics in other people too, so I tutor a lot of people because I want their priorities to also shift towards academics. We’re all in school, we’re not there just to mess around and watch Netflix and stuff,” said Patel.

In addition, she holds a part-time job at Taco Bell as a cashier.

Time management is key to the maintenance of her busy schedule.

“I like to make lists, like to-do lists. That’s what I start my day off with [when] I come home from school. I look at what’s due tomorrow, what’s due the day after, and what’s due within the next week. When I do have free time, I really like to read… I’m interested in all kinds [of books], but I like historical fiction and realistic fiction.”

In 2012, Patel won the Geography Bee in the state of Florida, becoming the 2^nd girl ever to win in Florida. She then advanced and placed 13^th in the nation.

“It was really fun, and I competed on national television. Ever since then I’ve really liked geography and languages and everything to do with the world,” said Patel.

Earlier in her high school career, Patel was part of the Mayor’s Youth Corps, which works with the city of Tampa and Mayor Bob Buckhorn. Since then, she has moved up to become part of the Leadership Council.

“I spent a lot of time doing leadership development and community service,” said Patel.

She is also part of the MOSI Kids in Charge Advisory Board.

“We help plan out the exhibits that come to MOSI and we do some fun, exciting events at the museum.”

Patel won the Athena Society’s Young Women of Promise Award earlier this year, which is given to ten Juniors in Hillsborough County each year.

She got their attention when she co-founded a nonprofit organization called MCMPC (Milan Shah Maya Patel Charity) with a friend.

“MSMPC is all about collecting gently used books and giving them to students who would be able to use them in other countries. So, it combines geography, which I love, and reading, which I love.”

You can check out more at: http://msmpc.weebly.com/

The books have been distributed locally, such as in community development centers, as well as in Zambia and South Africa. Over this past summer, MSMPC made a very large donation to Books for Africa, a charity based in Atlanta.

“We started off just asking some friends and family in the community, and pretty soon we had a huge collection.”

Though she was born and raised in Tampa, Patel is still very involved with her Indian heritage. She has been practicing a type of Indian dance, Bhangra, for 12 years. She is also fluent, in speaking as well as reading and writing, in two Indian languages, Hindi and Gujarati.

“I can cook Indian food; I wear Indian clothes,” said Patel.

Patel cites her family as a huge inspiration to her.

“We started from really humble beginnings… My grandparents were immigrants. Starting off from there, they were just working day and night, providing education for my parents and for my aunts and uncles, making them how successful they are today. I want to preserve that tradition and work as hard as they did,” said Patel.

Currently in the midst of her college applications, Patel is considering 12 universities.

“I don’t have a dream college, surprisingly. There’s not really one place that attracts me. It’s basically wherever I get the best offer or wherever I think I’ll get the best opportunities,” said Patel.

“I either want to become a pharmacist, like my parents, or a dentist. I really like the profession.”

Despite her busy schedule, Patel still find time for activities common to the typical high school student.

“I really like listening to music and watching movies. Bollywood music and movies are my preference, but I also like watching comedy movies, sometimes rom-coms,” said Patel.

“I’m still a normal kid. I still go shopping with my friends and stuff. It’s just all about how you manage time.”