DELANO, Calif. -- One student from Delano is living his American dream, as he will head for the East Coast after graduating from Delano High School to continue to college education at Harvard University.

Octavio Viramontes was called into the principal’s office Monday morning, not because he was in trouble but for some good news. An energy and gas company has decided to give him a $100,000 scholarship, but what is perhaps more remarkable is this student's journey to Harvard.

Octavio’s family decided to chase their American dream and moved to California from Mexico when he was just 9 years old.

As an ESL student, he struggled with English but has managed to overcome the language barrier and at the end of the year he is expected to graduate with a 5.0 grade point average.

School officials said he is the perfect role model for other students.

“He volunteers his time to tutor other students,” said Delano High School Principal Terri Nuckols. “He's done a lot of community service. He's not only very bright but he's a wonderful human being.”

After deciding to go Harvard, Octavio’s next question was how was he going to pay for his education. After all, his parents make minimum wage working in the fields, picking grapes.

But now that he has been awarded the Proton Energy Scholarship from Proton OnSite for $100,000, he said he doesn’t have to worry about money anymore.

“Now because I have this scholarship I really don’t have to worry about anything. Now I can go to Harvard and worry about my academics and not about my financial status,” said Viramontes.

Octavio said he is still undecided on his major but he is thinking about engineering. He was also accepted into Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brown University, Berkley and Stanford among others.