Students with an alternative plan

After high school some students plan to go to college, but Amberly Espindola, 12, plans to go into the Marines once she graduates. Her older brother was in the Marine Corps, which is why she plans on going as well.

Leslie Ruiz, Business Team
January 28, 2015

As graduation approaches seniors Alan Ruiz, Matthew Ramirez, and Amberly Espindola plan on taking an alternate route from college to join the Armed Forces.

Senior Alan Ruiz plans on joining the Air Force when high school is over.

“College really isn’t for me and I wouldn’t want my parents to deal with the burden of my college expenses,” Ruiz said.

Ruiz plans on having a more adventurous life style while on his road to the Air Force.

Like Ruiz, senior Matthew Ramirez plans on joining the Air Force as well. He plans on

taking the AFOQT, the Air Officer Qualifying Test. This test, similar to the SAT and

ACT for this field, is a three hour-long exam that tests the enrollees on everything from

math to english to aviation skills. Depending on their results, they are placed in different

sections of the Air Force.

“I want to join so I can learn new skills and apply them to my everyday life when I get back,” Ramirez said.

Another senior, Amberly Espindola, doesn’t see college in her future. Instead, Espindola plans to accomplish her dream of joining the Marine Corps.

“I’ve always felt that the military would be a great place for me simply because I am a hands on person,” Espindola said. “I never thought about college while I was growing up, but I always thought about boot camp and what it’d be like.”

Even though she leaves to South Dakota for boot camp only a week after graduation, she is excited to become a Marine and belong to the “few and the proud.”

For students with alternative plans after high school, their futures are just as important to them as those who will attend college in the fall, and, although it will be a more physically rigorous path, they are determined to make this their career.

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About the Contributors

Leslie Ruiz, Business Team

Leslie Ruiz is a 17 year old senior joining The Downey Legend for the second time. Ruiz is a part of newspaper’s business team as a public relations manager. Ruiz first joined The Downey Legend her sophomore year and enjoyed it much that she knew she needed to come back. Ruiz was not able to return her junior year because of credits, having to give it up on her junior year she came back senior year. Ruiz remembers the first time she saw the members of The Downey Legend come into her class and talk about joining; Ruiz just knew she had to try it out. “Fundraising and keeping the environment friendly and fun is a goal I want to achieve this year.” Ruiz stated.

Senior Ruiz has many goals; one goal is to graduate from high school with good grades, as well as being able to enjoy newspaper at the same time. Other than watching Netflix Ruiz loves to play soccer with her team outside of DHS. Coming to the end of her school day, Ruiz likes to relax at home either baking or listening to; Drake, Sam Smith and Inene Alko. Once Ruiz is out of high school, she plans to go to a university with the goal of transferring to USC. At USC she is going to study in becoming a teacher or accountant. As Ruiz grows older, her plan is to move into a hipster town to live her life; letting all her hard work and dedication pay off.

Karen Ariciaga, Co-Photo Editor

Senior Karen Ariciaga is starting her second year in Newspaper, and she enjoyed her position very much. She entered Newspaper with a position, as photographer last year, was her first year actually knowing how to work the cameras and take pictures on a professional camera. As a photographer, she has a job of taking pictures of sports events, rallies, and school events. “I really liked taking pictures for events, it was a way for me to see what was going around me,” Agriciaga said. “Being a photographer seems like a fun job, but there is also work that comes with it, there’s a balance.” stated Agriciaga stated. Her goals for newspaper are to enjoy every minute of it.

Photography is one of her many interests, she also enjoys re-watching old TV series such as Gossip Girl in her spare time. “Blair is my favorite,” Ariciaga stated. Other than Gossip Girl, she loves to sleep and eat Sushi, “I can eat sushi it all the time,” said Ariciaga. As a senior, one of her plans for this year is to go to all the dances. Ariciaga wants to be a lawyer when she is older. “I love the feeling of winning an argument,” she said. She plans to attend Loyola Marymount University after high school and wants be signed to a firm after college in hopes of fulfilling her goals. “ I want to get higher scores on my SATs’, pass with straight As, and join more school activities,” Ariciaga said, Her back up plan is to go to San Francisco State and fall back on business, so she is applying for scholarships and other colleges just in case. She is very focused on her career; Karen Ariciaga is very dedicated to get what she wants in life. She is taking steps to get to where she wants and going through it with a great attitude toward her up and coming year.