Merced High School

P.O. Box 2167 Merced, California 95344 (209) 385-6466

October 25, 2015

Merced high School
Merced CA
To whom it may concern:
This is a letter of reference on behalf of Erika Bricky a talented individual whom I have come to know over the
past two years. Erika is a hardworking, outgoing and intelligent student. As a student in my A. P. United States History
class, Erika was one of the top students in the class and earned a 4 on the AP exam in the spring. Erika often participated
in and led discussions of topics covered in class. She was also not afraid to challenge assumptions or to ask questions.
Erikas enthusiasm and knowledge of the material made her a natural leader in the class. Erika has excelled in her other
coursework here at Merced High School and challenged herself by taking multiple AP or Honors courses while
maintaining a 3.97 (unweighted) GPA and being ranked third in her class of 406 students.
Erika is well respected by her classmates, and outside of the classroom has also demonstrated her leadership
potential through her involvement in extracurricular activities. She was sophomore class treasurer and Junior Class
President. Erika is President of the environmental club and she is also President of the journalism club. Erika was
nominated and selected by Merced High School teachers and counselors to be the junior representative at Camp RYLA
(Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) which is a camp for promising student leaders. Erika is also a member of CSF and
Interact. As a senior she attended Girls state.
This past summer, Erika was accepted into the Merced Union High School Districts Summer History Program
(SHiP) where she and 15 other students, researched, designed and implemented the Merced County Courthouse Museums
125th City of Merceds Anniversary exhibit. Because of her strong research and organizational skills, Erika was the lead
student who designed the Public Works portion of the exhibit which included a model of one of Merceds water towers
and was the major focus of one of the exhibit rooms.
Outside of academics, Erika comes across as a genuine and sincere individual. In addition to school activities,
Erika also manages her schedule in order to volunteer in the community, where she has volunteered for over 200 hours as
a Sunday school teacher, organizing the Relay for Life Committee at Merced high, and on a Mission trip to Mexico to help
build houses. Erikas strong values and passion for learning show in her career interest which is to pursue a degree in
Political Science, continue to law school and become involved in government service.
Her desire to excel and overcome her weaknesses shows that she has the drive and determination to make an
outstanding contribution to society, and will be successful in whatever career or occupation she chooses to pursue. I am
pleased to highly recommend her. If you have any questions regarding this recommendation, feel free to contact me at
jsebastian@muhsd.org
Sincerely,

Joel L. Sebastian
Teacher, Merced High School

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