Dominick Vidota Strives to Put Kindness into the World

Dominick Vidota is in the midst of a great experience at Huntington High School where he is acing challenging classes, excelling in the Blue Devil athletic program and helping to make the high school and community a better place as a member of the social justice club.

Mr. Vidota is committed to play football at the University of Rochester. “I am planning on majoring in pre-med as I love medicine and psychology,” he said. “I plan on becoming a psychiatrist.”

The teenager believes in putting others above yourself. “With all the hate in the world, I think it’s always good to try and put a bit of kindness back into it,” he said.

The senior captained the Blue Devil varsity football team and also played a key role on Huntington’s varsity boys’ fencing team, which reached the county finals.

“One person who has really made a difference for me at Huntington is Mr. [Ronald] Wilson,” the teenager said. “He was my football coach at Finley and has been a supporter of me throughout all of high school, even when I was at Chaminade.”

A member of the Science Honor Society and the social justice club, Mr. Vidota is taking classes in Advanced Placement Psychology, Media Art, Pre-Calculus, Science Research Honors, AP English Literature and Composition, AP Chemistry, African American and Latino Politics and Economics. “My favorites are the sciences, as I love psychology and Mr. [Peter] Crugnale,” he said. “I love researching with Mrs. [Lori] Kenny and I love the challenge of AP Chemistry with Mrs. [Danielle] Raguzin.”

Mr. Vidota went to Chaminade for his freshman and sophomore years before settling back into Huntington UFSD and thriving ever since.

“I have had an amazing experience,” Mr. Vidota said. “I have gotten exactly what I wanted since I first came from Chaminade after sophomore year. There is a close community with so much diversity and there are friends around every corner.”

The teenager engaged in quite a bit of traveling related to football last summer going to Minnesota, Chicago “and all over New England,” he said. “My favorite was going to Dartmouth in New Hampshire, it was so beautiful up there.”

Mr. Vidota is excelling in every subject. His weighted academic average in the second marking period exceeded 103.5. But, while he clearly qualifies as a scholar, he’s not all business all the time. “Life is too short to always be serious; have fun and joke around,” he said.

The senior is always looking for new experiences and to grow intellectually. “Expanding your horizons is the best thing you'll ever do in life,” Mr. Vidota said.

The teenager is looking forward to attending the University of Rochester and playing football for the highly regarded school.

“In ten years, I hope to be getting ready to be a licensed psychiatrist, finishing my residency and looking to work at a state run facility,” Mr. Vidota said.