OC Register: "One of 11 siblings, she's valedictorian at Valley High"

By ANDREW GALVIN

SANTA ANA – Meet Melissa Arambulo.

Melissa Arambulo (second from right) with eight of her brothers and sisters. Two weren't home when the picture was taken. She's 2011 valedictorian at Valley High School.

She's one of 11 children in her family. She shares a bedroom with her four younger sisters: three in one bed, two in the other.

She's 2011 valedictorian at Valley High School and is headed to UC Berkeley in the fall.

Her parents, she said, taught her to work hard, but mainly they taught her to be respectful. "By listening to your teachers, by doing your homework, you're respecting them," she said. "To respect is to try your best.

Her father, Concepción, and her mother, Carolina, are immigrants from Zacatecas, Mexico. He works in the maintenance department at the Anaheim Sheraton; she stays home with the children, who range in age from 3 to 18. Melissa is the second oldest.

>>FULL STORY<<