From the Inner City to California State Parks

“SRLA gave me the inspiration to reach my goals and pushed me to do things I never thought I’d do. I grew up in the inner city and we went to parks as a kid, but SRLA gave me a love of the outdoors.” 

‐Evelyn Aguilar, California State Parks

For many SRLA students, Los Angeles is no bigger than their “backyard.” Evelyn Aguilar fell in love with outdoors and developed a commitment to her community through the SRLA program.

Evelyn’s participation in SRLA at 32nd Street High School sparked her future. She attended Williams College in Massachusetts, earning a degree in biology. After a year of service mentoring at‐risk youth in South Central, Evelyn found her dream job. Evelyn now works for California State Parks, a role that combines her love of biology with community service. This fall, she will attend Cal State Fullerton to pursue her Master’s Degree in environmental science.

Evelyn credits SRLA for the job that she has today. “[SRLA] showed me that I could take on physical challenges and that opened a lot of doors for me. I probably would’ve been intimidated to do a job like this (working for CA State Parks) prior to SRLA.”