On Mar. 18, Yale University sent Daniela Dellarza, a student ambassador, to visit Downey High School in the Career Center and talk to underclassmen about the opportunities they have to apply and attend an Ivy League school.

“Yale University has chosen to visit Downey High School because Downey has a lot of high ranking students, and we want to encourage you guys to apply,” Dellarza said.

Dellarza spent about an hour thoroughly going over the different aspects of Yale University and answering questions from the audience. She also shared her own story about how she came from a neighboring city to Downey and ended up moving to New Haven, Connecticut to attend Yale University.

“I was very skeptical about going to Yale because the east coast’s environment is just totally different from the west coast,” Dellarza said. “At first it was a struggle because I was homesick and had to adjust to the culture shock and colder weather, but now that I know how to manage my new environment I’m glad I chose Yale.”

Junior Abigail Martinez was one of the students in attendance. Martinez is a honors and AP student at Downey High and is hoping to be able to get the chance to attend a top university after her senior year.

“Something I look for in an university is having more hands on experiences,” Martinez said. “I’m more interested in going out-of-state, but I like having my options open even to schools that I might not be able to get into.”

Another student in attendance was junior Robert Nevarez. Similar to Martinez, Nevarez is an academically achieving student who hopes to attend a well-known university to get the best education available.

“Yale is currently one of my top choices,” Nevarez said. “I want to go to an Ivy League school for the experience and to further my knowledge.”

Ms. Roman is one of the career technicians along with Mrs. Campos in the College and Career Center. Roman was in the audience during the presentation and made comments now and then to enhance the college presentation to the students.

“I think it’s awesome that an Ivy League school made contact with Downey High and wanted to outreach here in our community,” Roman said, “so for us to have the opportunity to have someone that was from the area give her personal experience on attending an Ivy League school is just awesome.”

With three months left of the school year, underclassmen prepare to apply to universities and strengthen their academic reputations in the upcoming year. The goal of this presentation was to show students that they shouldn’t be discouraged about applying to top ranking schools and encourage them to take advantage of the opportunities around them.