STEPPING OUT OF CHILDHOOD HIGH SCHOOL GRADS PREPARE FOR COLLEGE.

Byline: RICK COCA Valley News Writer

Attending school in his native Ukraine, Chatsworth High School valedictorian Viktor Shkolnikov said students in the city of Lviv didn't rely solely on janitors to clean up their school. The students did it themselves.

A carry-over from the old Soviet system's mandatory ``Pioneer'' program, in which school-age ``scouts'' performed civic and community duties, Shkolnikov said it was expected that students would clean up their own campus.

Although Shkolnikov will graduate this month as the top student of Chatsworth's 12 valedictorians, with a GPA of 4.5, he said his work with the Campus Beautification program is one of the things he's most proud of.

``I guess that (Ukraine work) ethic stayed with me,'' Shkolnikov said.

Shkolnikov will be attending Stanford University in the fall as a biomedical engineering student. Shkolnikov will combine his love of technology and medicine with the hope of one day designing or improving medical devices.

``I feel like I can make a difference in the world if I can create a device that would make a sick person's life better,'' Shkolnikov said.

Shkolnikov said one of the biggest things he had to deal with once he moved to the United States was adjusting culturally to a more liberal society than the one he left.

He thinks the influence of both cultures has served him well.

``I kind of received the best of both worlds,'' Shkolnikov said. ``I see myself as kind of in between. I was able to see the good and bad of both (cultures), which is kind of good because not many people are able to see that.''

Fellow student and valedictorian Stephanie Jung is headed to the University of California at Berkeley where she'll study biology. She wants to follow in her older sister Sandy's footsteps and enter the medical field, either as a doctor or a pharmacist. Sandy is currently attending Rush Medical School in Chicago. Like many students, Jung, 18, is as interested in seeing how she'll grow as a person as she is in doing well in school.

``The hardest part will probably be just relying on myself,'' Jung said. ``I have to learn to make the right decisions and make the safest choices.''

Jung lives with her mother, father, and grandmother, just outside of Chinatown in downtown Los Angeles. She'll miss watching Chinese soap operas such as ``Mars'' with her mother and spending time in her grandmother's room, singing karaoke tunes together.

Besides the guidance she normally gets from her parents, Yim and George Jung, her grandmother, Poy Jung, and her older brother, Eric, Jung said she has been well taken care of by Chatsworth High School.

``You're pretty much taken care of in high school,'' Jung said. ``The administration, they do a good job, (like) a child and parent.''

Jung, a devout Christian, said she'll rely on her faith to guide her as she learns to take a more active role in her own decision-making.

``I guess I'm a little apprehensive about (being on my own), but I think I'm ready to give it a try and it's a nice challenge to see how well I handle the world.''

At North Hollywood High School, senior Raialin Broeske is preparing to enroll at the Brigham Young University campus in Idaho.

``I selected it because it's my church-sponsored school,'' Broeske said. ``It has sort of been my dream to go to Brigham Young University.''

A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Broeske is looking forward to being on a campus where so many others share her Mormon faith, instead of the four or five on North Hollywood High School's campus.

Broeske said she plans to double-major in architecture and interior design at Brigham Young and wants to one day design buildings. Broeske doesn't expect to come home four years from now an entirely different person.

``I'll probably be the same me as I am now, just older,'' Broeske said.

Broeske's classmate, Norma Montes, is one of the school's valedictorians. North Hollywood High School also has a Magnet program on campus, which has its own valedictorians.

Montes, 18, is on her way to UCLA, where she'll prepare for a career in teaching.

``I've done some work at elementary schools and I felt like that's what I want to do,'' Montes said. ``I think that's what my passion is and I can't picture myself doing anything else.''

Montes' stellar academic performance and its positive effect on her sister, Patricia, 17, and brother, Efren Jr., 12, was no accident. Starting at a very young age, Montes assumed the responsibility of being a good influence on her siblings.

``I feel very proud because I feel like I've been successful,'' Montes said. ``And I feel like I'm the role model for both my brother and sister, and I want them to look up to me. I want them to follow in my footsteps.''

Montes' sister and brother are both honor students.

At Taft High School, it's pretty common to see friends Rosibel Hernandez and Candy Martinez hanging out together. The two met while running track and cross country together a couple of years ago. Today, they can be found in the school's college office, seated with friends playing cards during lunch, or grabbing a bite to eat after school at a local Japanese takeout restaurant.

This fall the two will both head east to different universities within about an hour's drive of each other.

Hernandez is headed for Yale University in Connecticut to study cognitive science and prepare for medical school and Martinez is bound for Amherst College in Massachusetts to study psychology.

Hernandez is the third in her immediate family to attend college.

``It is going to be very difficult for me to leave my family because we're very close and we've never been apart, so it'll be a huge adjustment for me.''

And then there's the snow.

For Martinez, 18, the oldest of three children, she plans to rely on the ``far from home'' friendships of classmates Hernandez, Mehrin Rahman, who'll be attending nearby Smith College, and three or four other Taft classmates who are attending universities close to her own.

Never away from home for more than two weeks, Martinez is already homesick.

``I'm really already starting to miss my little brother (Alban),'' Martinez said. ``It's hard.''

She'll miss running with her brother Jesse, 15, and her mom's excellent meals, but she's open to the positive change ahead for her.

``I'd like to discover something new about me that I didn't know,'' Martinez said.

At the Odyssey Restaurant in Granada Hills, about 160 graduating seniors of San Fernando High School came together recently along with their family and friends for the fourth annual Project Grad Scholarship Banquet. Project Grad, a nonprofit program, utilizes an early college outreach program in which students and their families sign a ``scholarship agreement'' to ensure more students enter and succeed in college.

At the banquet, students received medals commemorating their scholarships of up to $6,000 to attend universities and community colleges throughout the country.

Marisol Ramirez, 17, of San Fernando High School was one of the students honored. Ramirez is headed to UC Berkeley, along with six other classmates.

Ramirez will study anthropology with a focus on archaeology and linguistics. She said she started to develop an appreciation for ancient cultures, such as that of Egypt, when she was in middle school. Fluent in English and Spanish, Ramirez said she's interested in learning other languages, such as Arabic. Eventually, Ramirez would like to work as a linguist for the United Nations.

``I'm really excited about going to a school where there are all these different types of organizations that I can belong to, clubs and things like that,'' Ramirez said.

Ramirez credits her sister, Perla, with encouraging her to follow her passion and study anthropology when Ramirez was considering other less complicated options.

``When I first said that I liked Egypt, she started buying books on ancient Egypt,'' Ramirez said.

In one book, Ramirez's sister wrote a dedication that could sum up the feelings of many loved ones to graduating high school students:

``Let this small token of love and support show how proud I am of you and how much I support your dreams and aspirations.''

CAPTION(S):

6 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Stephanie Jung and Viktor Shkolnikov, two of Chatsworth High School's valedictorians look forward to their college years.

(2 -- color) San Fernando High School students Christina Nguyen and Cintia Aquino were each awarded $10,000 Court TV scholarships at the Project Grad banquet in Granada Hills.

(3 -- color) Project Grad scholarship recipients listen to a classmate's tale of success at a recent banquet attended by hundreds of San Fernando High School students and their families.

(4 -- color) Taft High School students Rosibel Hernandez and Candy Martinez enjoy a game of cards with friends in the college office.

(5 -- color) North Hollywood High School student Raialin Broeske will be attending Brigham Young University's Idaho campus in the fall.

(6 -- color) Norma Montes, one of North Hollywood High School's valedictorians, says she wants to succeed so she'll be a good example to her younger siblings.

Rick Coca/Valley News