SEATTLE — The month of May is a celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage and it's an opportunity to pay tribute to the contributions of generations who have helped shape and enrich America's history.
One Seattle family from Indonesia is celebrating a significant milestone that's inspiring in many ways.
David Purnomo is 14-years-old and currently a sophomore at Seattle Prep, but he just found out he's been accepted to attend the University of Washington this fall.
"It's hard to process right now," said David, who is slowly coming to terms with the fact his hard work and determination has paid off in a life altering way.
He was selected through the highly competitive Robinson Center of Young Scholars program at the UW.
David is a first generation Indonesian immigrant and said he's seen his fair share of adversity. Since kindergarten, David has attended seven different schools in four states.
However, he is quick to point out that moving so often has given him a better perspective and he joked that he now has friends all over the country.
Academics has always been a passion, David said, and he has many honors to show for it. He's won the spelling bee, geography bee and math tournaments. But he found his real passion about three years ago.
At age 11, David became focused on medicine and studying the human brain. Before he was even a teenager, he told his parents he wanted to be a medical researcher and eventually work with Doctors Without Borders.
Even with his dedicated focus on academics, he's found time for something else, too.
David considers his second home to be at the Bellevue Badminton Club. He said he only discovered badminton a few years ago, but has shown the same commitment to learning the sport and is already a ranked competitor on the U.S. Badminton Junior Team.
David said his true dream is to be a "professional badminton playing doctor."