In July of 2009, freshman Stephan Melendez received a letter in the mail from the People to People Ambassador Program saying he was nominated and accepted to go to Europe in the summer.

“I am excited to go on the trip because I want to experience different cultures,” he said. “I think it will be a life-changing experience when I get to stay in other homes.”

People to People provides opportunities to travel internationally for a unique kind of education — at a cost. While his family was thinking of ways to fundraise, they thought of selling burritos on campus.

“It all started as an accident,” Melendez said. “I was actually just supposed to make a few burritos for some friends to raise money to go to Europe. I think we chose to sell burritos because we are so comfortable with making them — it is a part of our culture.”

As a result, Melendez decided to try out the idea. Every Friday he could be seen with his rolling backpack filled to the brim with burritos. In October he just sold a few to friends, but more requests came in and the amount of burritos expanded.

“I was one of the friends who asked Stephan to make me a burrito,” Dean Potigian, 11, said. “I asked Stephan because he is my little brother and his burritos are awesome.”

Soon he was offered a chance to sell them for lunch for the school in the beginning of March. Melendez’s small favor for friends quickly became a sizable business venture.

Each week he makes 90-95 burritos, and can make from $180-315 in revenue. He makes a profit of $3 when the average cost of making a single burrito is one dollar.

Since beginning in October, Stephan’s burritos have become a campus favorite.

“Stephan’s burritos are my favorite lunch,” Bree Ainley, ’11, said. “I like that the burritos are homemade, so I buy them every time I remember to bring money. You can taste that they have the perfect amount of beans, rice and meat.”

However, making a little less than 100 burritos calls for large amounts of ingredients. Some parts of the burrito are authentically prepared at home, while others are from the store.

He buys most of the supplies in 20-pound bags every month, such as pork from Vallarta Supermarket. The tortillas and sauce, however, are made from scratch.

“We make stuff from scratch because it tastes better, and it is more of a hispanic tradition to serve people with food you have made yourself,” Melendez said. “When you cook from scratch it will come out the way you want it, versus buying it from the store and it not coming out the way you think.”

The preparation for this one-day sale can take up to three days, and involves the help of Melendez’s parents. On Tuesdays they buy some ingredients, and then on Wednesday they cook the pork and boil the beans.

They also have to make the tortillas and chile verde sauce. On Friday his dad wakes up early to start the rice and warm up the beans. Later the pork is added to the chile verde sauce. By 11 a.m. the burritos are shipped to school, he said.

Before beginning this enterprise, Melendez’s parents gained experience with food when they lived in the south. His father owned a restaurant called La Michoacana in San Diego, where he practiced making Mexican food.

In line with family history, Melendez wants to follow his dad and be involved in restaurants in his future. He feels that selling burritos has helped to prepare him for a career.

“Selling burritos is a neat experience; I never thought I’d sell food at school,” Melendez said. “I think later on in my future I will end up owning a chain of taco shops. It teaches me about finances, and how to set a price and stick with it. I think if you have a product you believe in and you sell it, people will buy it.”

Melendez plans to continue selling burritos after his trip in the fall, he said. He wants to support the school and donate money to the football team.

For more information on lunchtime activities, read the May 11 article, ‘Promised Land’ combines convenience, variety.