Lodi Unified senior earns nine college degrees
Middle College High student to graduate later this week
Middle College High School student D’Angelo Martinez is back at it again. The high school senior has earned three more associate degrees from San Joaquin Delta College making it nine degrees total since the beginning of his high school career.
Over the years, Martinez has earned associate degrees in the areas of arts and humanities, Spanish, teacher education preparation, business, retail management and merchandising, mathematics and science. He is now adding degrees in social and behavioral science and business along with an additional degree in Spanish to his roster.
“I had the opportunity to take college classes in the morning and it was just up to me how much of a big work load that I wanted to take,” he said. “With that I took the opportunity and made the most of it by packing in as many college classes as I could to try to not only get the degrees done but also save time and money as the classes are also transferable to my university.”
Martinez feels that getting a college education at a younger age was very valuable to him and taught him a lot. In order to complete all of his degrees Martinez was forced to make several sacrifices, including giving up football and missing out on various social events like school dances. Despite the many sacrifices he had to make, he doesn’t regret a thing.
“My whole time was consumed by school work, but it’s not that it was a burden because it obviously helped me become who I am today, and I enjoyed learning so all the time I had to give up was worth it,” he said.
His family and his desire to help others fueled his motivation to complete his associate degrees.
“I just want to help others and inspire people, and I really want to help my family and community but also want to help make an impact much bigger than that,” he said. “I knew that with hard work and dedication if I could just impact one life I would have accomplished my goal.”
Martinez is set to receive his final three associates degrees when he graduates from San Joaquin Delta College today. He will graduate high school Friday.
Not only will Martinez be graduating high school with nine associates degrees but he was also accepted to at least 12 universities, including all nine of the Universities of California, as well as University of the Pacific, San Diego State and San Jose State.
He will be attending the University of California, Davis, in the fall.
“I was definitely going to go to a UC, but out of all of the UCs, I felt UC Davis was the one that will help me grow more and prosper more because it had more opportunities not only with research but just as way to develop better,” Martinez said.
At UC Davis, Martinez will major in biological sciences with the goal of becoming a physician. He did want to be a doctor at first but after participating in the Decision Medicine summer program he changed his mind.
“It introduced me to the medical field and I saw just how much help a doctor can give not only with medicine but the impact they can have on someone’s life. That’s something I feel like I won’t get tired of and I can do everyday.”
Martinez hopes his accomplishments will encourage others to reach their goals.
“I just want to show that no matter what your current situation is or what you’re going through anything is possible and don’t try to set your limits low just shoot for the moon,” he said. “Anything is possible with dedication and hardwork. I just want to show that even though you feel like you’re not privy or you’re in area or situation that you can’t prosper that it can be done. I just want to help not only younger people but show people it’s never too late to just do what you want to do and enjoy your life.”