Jose Medrano
El Rancho High School,
Pico Rivera, Calif.
Three of his classmates will attend Cerritos College, a two-year school in Norwalk, Calif., less than seven miles from Pico Rivera. The class president is headed for UCLA, 13 miles from home. Jose Medrano, El Rancho's class valedictorian, will travel cross-country to attend MIT.
While pleased with his academic standing, Medrano had little time to savor the moment as he headed for Cambridge two days after graduation.
"It's just that feeling of accomplishment and seeing that four years have paid off," Medrano told the Whittier Daily News*. In his Commencement address, Medrano told his fellow graduates, "The people beside you will be your partners in the future working toward a common goal and making a better tomorrow."
*"Nostalgia, excitement mark graduation rites" - Whittier Daily News, June 19, 2003
