It’s been a strange journey for Daniel Melton. Like many members of the Class of 2020, he started attending Armijo as a freshman, proud to be an Armijo Indian. This year, the first disruption was the mascot representing Armijo. Melton became a member of the first class of Armijo Royals. Then there was COVID-19, which took away many senior opportunities, including prom and a physical graduation. Still, Melton moved forward with lots of memories of his years at Armijo. “There were many ups and downs, probably more downs than ups… look at how my 2020 graduation is going to be due to this quarantine, but in the end, we just have to keep that positive attitude, work our problems out, and appreciate what we have,” he said. “And now look at me. I got to make it through high school!”

In the last four years, Melton has been involved in school sports like wrestling and golf. One of his favorite classes has been Woodshop. “I have been in a program for woodshop called Habitat which I like the most because we go out for two periods and help the community by building houses,” he said. He said that he is going to miss that class as well as his Welding class. Some of his favorite memories at Armijo are being able to make things in welding and woodshop, especially attending the habitat for humanity service for woodshop.

After graduation, he plans to go to Solano Community College for the first couple of years and then transfer to a school in the University of California system, majoring in architectural engineering, civil engineering, or electrical engineering. “When I’m finished with my schooling I plan to be working in the construction area,” he said. “On the side, I would like to be an inventor.”

While he was active in wrestling and golf at Armijo, he has participated in soccer, football, and baseball off campus. He has many other hobbies, too, like playing video games, and playing his acoustic, electrical, and bass guitars. He recently started gardening and earns money while he works at a local retail store.

“For the students first starting at Armijo: stick to something you like to do,” he said. “There are many electives and I’m sure you could get some use out of them for college. I’ve learned a lot from woodshop and welding which were my favorite and what I stuck to… So you guys should just keep your heads up, a big smile on your face, and experience Armijo as a great opportunity to start your journey towards a great college”.

That advice can go a long way, starting with Melton’s younger siblings, a 15-year old brother named Nathaniel, and a 13-year old sister named Natalie.