Good evening! My name is Melissa Rodriguez and I am currently a junior at Irma Rangel. I have been at Rangel since seventh grade allowing me to have had the opportunity to experience five wonderful camps, yet the one the affected me the most was probably the first one I attended. I knew that starting a new school was going to be difficult and when I found out I was going to go to a camp for a week with a group of girls that I did not know... I was terrified. I went in with a mindset that I was just going to do what was told while everyone was busy catching up with each other over all their fun experiences since they last saw each other. Yet this camp turned out to be one of the best times of my life.
Not only did it allow me to get to know my fellow sisters, but I got to expand my horizons. Thanks to the Foundation and numerous donors, I had the chance to go to camps that I had never even heard of, such as the SMU: Girls Talk Back and TWU: Fit to Lead, each at their respective campus. The experiences I had at these camps are irreplaceable. Even
more so is the bond that I have created with my classmates with whom I will be graduating next spring.

During this camps, I discovered my love for building things which ultimately lead me to decide to follow a career in engineering, so I can truly say that these camps shaped my future. I look forward to going to my final camp to end the adventure I began in 2009.

Thank you for allowing me and my fellow classmates give you all
an insight to the importance of our school.