HCS Stories

Alumni in Focus

Destini Pimental, HCS Class of 2012, loves who God is shaping her to be. From an early age, she was taught to value people and work hard. She grew up believing it was her responsibility to help and care for others. Now, as a young adult all the pieces are coming together.

Catching up by phone, her enthusiasm and joy were contagious as she remembered her time at Highland Christian School. “I’ll always be a Husky!” she piped! Entering Highland Christian School in second grade, Destini continued her high school education at the Culver Academies and graduated with the honor of a “Gold A” and as Admissions Chair. Currently, she is in her final term at Grace College, Winona Lake, IN and will graduate this winter with her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science.

Highly motivated, Pimental now serves as Senator, President of the Pre-Law Club and Student Admissions Ambassador at Grace. She will be return to Grace to teach Mediation for a period of time before she starts the Pre-law program in 2022.

But Pimental’s road through college has not been easy. She has faced many challenges and circumstances have required that she keep her goals in an open hand. Through all these thing, she has worked hard, persevered and waited on God. Gratefully, He has made her path clear.

During her years at Grace, she found her niche in the Mediation Team. This team meets weekly to study actual legal cases and hone their skills in peaceful conflict resolution. At the 19^th Annual Brenau University Mediation Tournament and Training in Gainesville, GA this past October, Pimental finished in the top-five. In addition, her team placed second overall in the advocate/client category and fourth in the mediation category.

On the topic of mediation, Pimental shared this. “Mediation is a valuable skill because it forces you to think of yourself as a villain. We live in a world where we assume we are the main character- that we are always right. But in mediation, you have to own the fact that sometimes you are wrong and learn how to compromise. This extracurricular helps you see humanity in others and forces you to tap into your inner creativity. Traditional solutions work for television. When you are dealing with the public, you need to be innovative and ingenius.”

Eventually, Pimental has aspirations to use her political science major and pre-law minor to run for office. In the meantime, she is busy ministering to peers and the elderly in various capacities. “I love who God is shaping me to be,” she said. “I don’t know how my story is going to end but I know that God has brought me through every challenge I’ve faced. I can’t take credit for story. I’m just living by the divine power of God.”