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While most high school seniors are merely deciding what classes to take their first year of college, Brooklyn Technical High School senior Dawn Rivera is ahead of the curve.

"I think what makes Dawn's experience unique is being a scholar athlete in a school like Brooklyn Tech as a remarkable experience, above and beyond her athletic prowess, she is a strong academic student with a 90-plus average, but is taking our Gateway to Medicine program," says Brooklyn Tech Principal Randy Asher.

The highly selective and competitive program has Dawn carrying a full load of college-level math and science courses.

Her school day begins with an hour-and-a-half ride from her home in Bronx all the way to Brooklyn tech.

"I think softball has been the thing that pushes me all these years, because coming from the Bronx, its like, if [I'm] going to come all the way to get this education when I could have gone to high school in the Bronx," says Rivera. "But coming here, it's like I made really good friends on the softball team, with my coach and everyone else supporting me, it's helped a lot."

As team captain, Rivera is a leader both on and off the field.

"She exemplifies what is means to be a student athlete at Brooklyn Tech," says softball coach Maureen Malone. "To be able to carry the academic workload and to be able to stay for long practices and maintain the GPA that she does, it's amazing."

"I have to stay busy. That's why my mom is always saying at me, 'You're never home, you're never home.' I'm always busy," says Rivera. "I'm always running around, always doing something. Homework, school, softball."

She will start her freshman year at Cornell this fall where she will be studying biology and environmental science, with hopes of creating a better tomorrow.

"What we do as humans affects the environment and it makes me want to go out and change people, because there are a lot of people who don't know what's going on with the environment," says Rivera.

So, with her can-do attitude and spirit in everything she does Dawn Rivera is the Health Plus/NY1 Scholar Athlete of the Week.

The Health Plus/NY1 Scholar Athlete program celebrates student athletes who successfully combine academics with athletics, and also find time for community service. The program, operated in conjunction with the New York City Department of Education, is open to any senior attending a New York City public high school.

Each week of the school year, a selected student is profiled on NY1 and receives a $2,000 scholarship to the school they choose to attend in the fall.

To apply, download and print out the official Scholar Athlete application, then mail it to the address on the form.