 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Today's most e-mailed
Prior days' news: By date | Search This week's print issue Back issues: By date | Search April 19, 2007Daniel Alejandro Pérez CuevaSeven years ago, Daniel Alejandro Pérez Cueva, 21, moved with his parents from Lima, Peru, to Woodbridge, Va., to pursue better opportunities than they had in their native country. While his parents worked multiple jobs, Mr. Pérez excelled in high school. A member of the National Honor Society, he went on to Miami Dade College before transferring to Northern Virginia Community College, and then to Virginia Tech. He had enough credits to be a junior this year, and he chose to major in international relations. Mr. Pérez’s relatives remember him as a doer.  Pérez family, AP Images “He was always moving, doing this or that,” says his cousin, Alejandro Albarracín Pérez. “If he wasn’t studying hard, then he was swimming. He was superactive and well rounded.” Back in Peru, Mr. Pérez was a member of the National Swimming Federation. His coach, Pedro Belleza, says he was “always the good-natured, friendly kid.” A high-school classmate recalls him the same way. “Daniel always had this megawatt smile that radiated wherever he was and made others around him smile,” Ashley Wheelock wrote in an e-mail message. “He was the type of person that would take the time to congratulate and encourage others.” Mr. Pérez’s father, Flavio Pérez Parra, had to keep in touch with his son from afar after being deported to Peru because of his undocumented status. “He was a real go-getter, a wonderful son,” says the elder Mr. Pérez. Though serious about his studies, the young Mr. Pérez enjoyed a good party and liked to dance, says his mother, Betty Cueva. “He was an extrovert,” she says. “That’s why he chose international relations.” Mr. Pérez spoke English, Spanish, and Italian, and he was learning French. He wanted to be a diplomat. He was in French class on the morning of the shooting. —Monica Campbell and Sara Lipka Posted on Thursday April 19, 2007 | Permalink |Comments
Previous: Jocelyne Couture-Nowak
|
My heart and prayers goes out to the the friends and families of Daniel .Here is a guy trying to do something good out of his life and it was cut short by a senseless act.You are in our heart and prayers
— TF Apr 23, 09:25 AM #
peruvians stay united. this one shouldnt have left us so soon.
— KD Apr 27, 11:43 AM #