Search | Menu From high school student to commencement speaker: Teen earns college milestone early
Everyone is human.
The simple statement packs power. It’s what Madison College STEM Academy scholar, Camila Alcantara Perez, will explore as the student speaker at the 2026 Spring Commencement ceremony on May 15 at Alliant Energy Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
“Everyone’s human. There’s no harm in being yourself,” Alcantara Perez said. “Take life lightly because you can move on from everything.”
At just 18 years old, Alcantara Perez exudes the confidence of someone with decades of experience. As an Early College STEM Academy student, Alcantara Perez has spent the latter half of her high school career as a full-time Madison College student, accumulating about 70 college credits.
Local high schools, including Alcantara Perez’s Verona Area High School, partner with Madison College to offer students the opportunity to earn college credit while completing their high school graduation requirements. The Early College programs allows students a headstart on their postsecondary education at little to no cost.
Alcantara Perez didn’t think she would go to college until a high school advisor recommended the program to her. Benefits offered by the program, especially the affordability, helped her see a completely different future for herself.
The WolfPack experience
And it didn’t take long for Alcantara Perez to become immersed in the WolfPack experience.
It’s immediately apparent on a walk through Madison College’s Truax campus that Alcantara Perez has cultivated a sense of community.
She stops every few minutes to say hi to someone, compliment a classmate’s outfit, introduce a staff member she’s worked with or share an anecdote about how one seemingly mundane office space was the backdrop for academic and personal success. During each interaction, she asks people specific, personal questions, and genuinely cares to hear the answers.
That could be on account of her innate ability to absorb as much life as she can out of every experience she’s granted.
Inspired to help
The program has propelled her toward becoming a physical therapist, a dream that was inspired by an injury she experienced as a teenager.
After hurting her back while working out, and going too long without addressing the pain, Alcantara Perez eventually sought physical therapy.
Her physical therapist, she said, walked her through all the exercises she needed to do, but didn’t try to understand her as a person. That personal disconnect made Alcantara Perez disinterested in doing the work necessary to heal.
“I think I would have cared more if the physical therapist cared about me as a person,” she said.
The situation inspired her to pursue physical therapy so she can treat patients with a higher level of personal care.
That desire to help people in a health care setting was solidified in Alcantara Perez’s experiences at UW Health as a part-time food runner and during a research-based internship made possible with a Madison College partnership with Maydm.
Achieving a dream
Family has inspired Alcantara Perez’s outstanding work ethic.
Her parents have spent the past few years operating a wedding venue in nearby Arena, Wisconsin. It has long been her dad’s dream to own his own business.
“It’s really cool because we are both achieving our dreams at the same time,” Alcantara Perez said.
A transformation
The electricity that radiates from Alcantara Perez when she talks about the people and programs she loved at Madison College is infectious. Her favorite class was Intro to Kinesiology, and her favorite spaces on campus were the Fitness Center and the lounge near the Early College Program advisors’ offices.
The connections she made all led to Alcantara Perez’s transformation from someone who didn’t want to go to college, to being the voice of her graduating class.
Alcantara Perez was encouraged to submit a commencement speech by Lazaro Enriquez, Manager of the Early College STEM Academy.
"Camila adds so much value to the STEM Academy and Madison College,” Enriquez said. “Her accomplishments, including earning an associate degree by high school graduation, demonstrate her dedication and commitment. Equally impressive is the positive energy Camila brings to every space.”
Enriquez noted kindness, care and thoughtfulness as Alcantara Perez’s greatest strengths, and he believes she will be an excellent representative of her graduating class.
In keeping with Alcantara Perez’s self-assured nature, she didn’t look up other speeches for inspiration before writing her own. She wanted the speech to be completely her own and reflect who she is, while also appealing to a diverse audience.
“We should be inspired by ourselves,” Alcantara Perez said.
After the Madison College commencement ceremony, Alcantara Perez will embark on a three-week trip to Spain with her girlfriend. The couple will return home the day before Alcantara Perez walks across the stage for her Verona Area High School graduation ceremony.
She will attend the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse in fall and enter the pre-physical therapy program. She will enter as a late sophomore or early junior thanks to the foundation she built at Madison College.
While Alcantara Perez is entering her professional journey with a headstart, she reminds others that there’s no master timeline in life.
“You are running your own race,” she said.
The Madison College 2026 Spring Commencement is on Friday, May 15 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Alliant Energy Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The community is welcomed to attend. Find more information on the Madison College Commencement event web page.
