UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA e SANTAGRUZ DRRELEY DAVIS = IVE + Los ANGELEN® MING VERDE «SRO eo UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, MERCED GATEWAY SCHOLARS CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS. 550 EAST SHAW AVENUE, SUITE 105 FRESNO, CALIFORNIA 93710-7702 February 10, 2017 To Whom It May Concern: Lam writing this letter of recommendation on behalf of Mackenzie Saephanh, a senior at Merced High School. | am the Gateway Scholars Program Coordinator and began working with students at MHS i November 2015. The Gateway Scholars Program is an academic outreach program that promotes and provides access to higher education through academic counseling, higher education workshops, and visits to university/college campuses. Mackenzie is one of my most active students in Gateway Scholars. As the youngest of a large family with multiple UC graduates, Mackenzie is very aware of the rigor of the UC admission process and wanted to ensure that she utilized every opportunity to prepare for the process. It wasn’t long after her recruitment to Gateway Scholars that Mackenzie struggled in her AP Calculus class, earning a D for both the fall and the spring. She came to me and felt that those two semester grades meant that the UC system was out of reach for her. I shared with her the process of evaluation for a UC applicant and I encouraged her to be open about the struggles she faced in that course. I advised her to enroll in an advanced mathematics class as a senior to demonstrate rigor, she had already decided on AP Statistics. Struggling in mathematics was difficult for Mackenzie, she had always celebrated academic success in mathematics, it was an experience that taught her a lot about resiliency. She has refocused her energy and time management and currently has a weighted academic GPA of 3.76 while participating in Leadership. Her participation in leadership calls for her to be present at all on-campus events, this means that she is at school many times early in the morning and stays late in the evening. ‘An attribute of Mackenzie that I find very telling of her level of maturity is in how she interacts with her peers. She is kind, considerate, and is cognizant of the needs of others. I have witnessed her countless times assist her peers in advice or support, whether it be for an academic, extra-curricular, or social matters. She treats others with distinct characteristics of a leader, she listens as intently as she speaks and her interactions are all woven with motivation. Mackenzie is a young woman who will be an incredible professional, in whatever field she chooses. I have no doubt she will be a valued member of her campus and community. She possesses unwavering support from her older siblings, but has the ability to self-advocate when needed. She utilizes my presence throughout the week and is always organized and articulate in her questions/eoncerns. I wholeheartedly endorse her for scholarship consideration, If you have any questions regarding Mackenzie, please feel free to contact me at any time at (559) 241-7476 or at pzarco@uemerced.edu. Patricia Zarco Gateway Scholars UC Merced Center for Educational Partnerships | Merced High School