Christina Cortez  

21070 Broadway 
Sonoma, CA 95476 
(707) 933-4010 
 
April 11, 2015 
 
Jonathan Beard
20000 Broadway 
Sonoma, CA 95476 
 
Dear Judges:  
 
My name is Christina Marlene Cortez. ​I was apart of AVID for all my four years of high
school as it helped me prepare for college and understand what the expectations would be like. I
was also involved in Link Crew and Dragones Lationo’s. ​I volunteered with my AVID class to 
help tutor the 8th graders at Adele Harrison who have just started AVID to which they just 
learned they will have to do a tutorials for their AVID grade. I have also worked with La Luz to 
sell raffle tickets during a Cinco De Mayo celebration at the plaza where we raised money for La 
Luz. My family has also owned a plant nursery for about the past 5 years where I do spend most 
of my weekends and time after school. The summer before my Senior year I decided to actually 
get a paying job and I applied at a local market where I worked in the deli department for about 
three months.  
My family has always encouraged me to continue with my education and attend college.
Considering my mother dropped out of high school to take care of my grandmother when she
was diagnosed with lupus and my father never attending high school. My mom later returned to
high school and graduated with her class receiving her diploma. Being the oldest sibling I plan
on graduating and setting a good example for my younger sister. I hope to make my family proud
by showing them that all the hard work and sleepless nights have helped aid for my success in
graduating high school. I am considering a career in criminal justice; as I am not quite sure on
which career path I will follow. As I always contemplate them but I do know for a fact that I
want to pursue a career that involves the law. After high school I plan on attending Santa Rosa
Junior College so that I can stay close to home and my family and will later transfer to either
Sonoma State or Sacramento State. 
 
I chose to do my Senior Project around Link Crew because it had benefited me so much
during my junior year of high school. Link Crew is a program in which upperclassmen help
freshman feel welcomed in their new environment. When I applied to become a Link Crew
leader I was just simply trying something, I did not know if I was going to make it or if I had the
courage enough to take on the leadership. I was trying something new and because of that it
helped show me that I can take things on and I can be a leader. The final outcome of my Senior
Project was holding certain events for the freshman that they wanted for us to do. 
Some challenges that I had faced during my Senior Project was that when I started off I 
was not communicating well with my mentor. I was having some personal issues so I would not 
keep in touch with my mentor as much. Apart from that another difficult issue I was faced with 
was getting for the freshmen to to talk or feel comfortable with some of the Link Crew leaders. A 
way I overcame getting the freshman to come out and participate is that some of their teachers 
were willing to offer extra credit to those who came out and were a part of the events. If I had to 
do my project again I would start my hours early and also do multiple events at once. Instead of 
doing each event and then planning another after. Instead I would plan a few events so that I 
could turn in the proposal forms and then we could hold the events.  
 
Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day for coming in and looking over 
my Senior Project.  
 
Sincerely, 
 
 
Christina Marlene Cortez