Aileen Martinez

Mrs. Henry
Service Learning- Period 5
26 April 2016
Statement of Intent
As stated previously in my cover letter, being a Buckingham Charter Magnet High
School student and a previous alumni of Port of Los Angeles High School has taught me the
significance of my work. Ive developed the appropriate skills needed for the next step I am
willing to take after high school. I am also capable enough to graduate from Buckingham Charter
Magnet High School and pursue a career within the field of Arts. After I graduate high school, I
plan on attending Sacramento State University, applying for a job, and expanding my horizons.
Sacramento State University was not ideally the first University that came to mind when
a teacher asked what college Id be attending after high school. Junior year of high school was
very stressful for me. I did not know that I was going to be moving to Northern California until a
couple months before the school year was over. When I came to Buckingham, I was opened to
many different educational opportunities. Even though I came to Buckingham in the last year of
high school, I still managed to obtain some of the skills needed when attending a university. For
example, in American Government, the class was expected to write a nine to twelve page
research paper by the end of the semester. When the time came, these students also had to give a
presentation on the inquiry question they chose to research. This project allowed me to manage
my time wisely and plan out when I would focus on writing this paper. Because I mostly took
academic classes in the Fall semester, I also had homework in other classes. I was able to write a
nine page research paper by the end of the semester, while passing all of my other classes with an

A. The final grade I received on this paper was a 99% and I was so proud of myself. This is
important because I know that I will be able to regulate my time when I am at Sacramento State
University. I know that I am capable of doing much more than I believe I can do when under
pressure because of school.
With high school coming to an end, Im sure that my mom will be telling me to apply for
jobs sooner or later. That is why I plan on applying for a job once I am familiar with my school
schedule. I know that I am prepared to join the workforce because of a certain class here at
Buckingham. Service Learning was not only my favorite class of Spring semester, but it was also
one of the most challenging. In this class, students were expected to give 40 hours of their time
to the community. I chose to volunteer at a thrift store called, Opportunity House. Although,
being able to volunteer at that nonprofit organization became a tough situation for me because of
the family issues I was going through, I still am very grateful that I was able to volunteer and
help out because I learned so much. At Opportunity House, I was given many different jobs to
do. The first couple of hours I spent volunteering there, I was mainly organizing dishes and
electronics on the floor. Then, I began taking out carts from the back and placing things wherever
they belonged. I did that for a couple of days until I was finally accepted in the back of the store,
helping out with pricing and searching for some of the brand name baskets that came in. This is
significant because volunteering at Opportunity House has definitely prepared me for the
workforce. I know that I am capable of obtaining a job while doing well in school because it was
similar to volunteering at Opportunity House while still in school. I managed to complete 37
hours so far.
Being new to Northern California, and being so busy with my last year of high school, I
have not had the opportunity to explore the cities around me. As an amateur photographer, I

enjoy taking photos wherever I go. When I visited Sacramento State University, I made sure to
check, online, for their photography majors. I found out that they have a very good photography
program. The tour guide that was in charge of showing my group the entire schools campus
talked about studying abroad. Now, that was something that interested me for the longest time.
When studying abroad for Sacramento State, the only costs needed to pay are the plane ticket
and food. I was ecstatic when I heard that the tuition cost stays the same. I would enjoy studying
abroad because I believe that studying in another country will expand my horizons, photography
wise.
As a young amateur photographer with hopes of pursuing a career within the field of
Arts, I plan on attending Sacramento State University while applying for a job, and hopefully
expanding my horizons here in Northern California first. Being a Port of Los Angeles High
School alumni, and a Buckingham Charter Magnet High School student has taught me how to be
responsible of my work in and out of school.