4.0 Student Breaks Free of Carmelitos Stereotypes : Education: Jordan High School’s valedictorian, who lives in the housing project, views studying as her job.

Only a few blocks from Viviana Arellano’s home in a Long Beach housing project, a 10-foot-high wall separates her neighborhood from the outside world.

The concrete wall between the Carmelitos Housing Project and the adjacent Lindbergh Middle School was erected last year by officials who wanted to protect teachers and students from gunshots. A few years earlier, a student had been hit by a stray bullet.

The “Lindbergh Wall” created some hard feelings among the tenants, including Arellano, who said the wall only served to stereotype those who live in the project. “It’s as if they were saying, ‘Everybody who lives there has a gun and acts crazy,’ ” she said.

But the 18-year-old native of Ecuador, who was smuggled across the border when she was 2, is hardly limited by stereotypes.

Arellano recently graduated as the valedictorian at Jordan High School. This fall, she will enter UC Berkeley, taking with her a slew of scholarships--and dreams of becoming an architect and building a house for her grandmother someday.

Arellano’s teachers hope she will serve as a role model for other students, especially those living in the 713-unit project, which is home to about 2,000 people.

“When people think of Carmelitos, they always think of the worst situation,” said Anne Fortson, the student’s counselor at Jordan High. “She’s an example that it’s in each of us to do well. If you work hard enough, you can do it.”

There are other good students from the project, teachers pointed out. About 200 Carmelitos students attend Jordan High, and about 35 have the minimum C-plus average to qualify for the school’s College Admissions Testing Program, said Jay Hagey, the program’s co-director. The program provides counseling on colleges, financial aid and careers for about 400 students, he said.

But Hagey acknowledged that Arellano is “a very, very exceptional student.” Graham Robertson, Arellano’s advanced-chemistry teacher, added, “She loves to learn.”

Arellano, who has a 4.0 grade-point average, said she views studying as her job. “This is what I have to do as a student. This is my role. Whenever I take a job, I do my best at it.”

Her mother, Norma, recalled how Arellano would work on her studies until 2 or 3 a.m. “I (would) say to her, ‘Child, enough!’ ”

The family living room is adorned with plaques, trophies and ribbons for math and science contests, academic excellence and leadership. Viviana and her mother recently flew to Tennessee, where Viviana received a $2,000 national award earmarked for high-achieving students living in federal housing projects. She has won $4,500 in scholarships from various groups, including the North Long Beach Women’s Club and the Berkeley Alumni Assn.

Norma Arellano, forced to work long hours as a seamstress to support her three children after her husband died 11 years ago, runs a no-nonsense household, particularly when social activities are involved.

In the tradition of Latin cultures, Viviana’s 14-year-old brother, Ricardo, serves as her chaperon whenever she goes out. Norma Arellano granted an exception recently for the prom, allowing her daughter to go without Ricardo by her side.

Norma Arellano said she is proud of all her children. Her oldest son, Fausto Francisco, is in the Air Force, married and the father of a little boy. Ricardo is in the same College Admissions Testing Program as his sister.

At home, everyone speaks Spanish because Norma does not speak English, although she is now taking classes. Viviana is as articulate in Spanish as she is in English, gliding smoothly from one to the other--just as she has successfully merged her different cultures. She watches Latin American television soap operas but listens to popular radio station Power 106.

Viviana said she is very nervous about leaving home, and especially about leaving her mother. “I will try to come back every weekend,” she said.

But when it comes to Mom’s advice that she take up a short career, live at home and get married in a few years, Viviana relates more to her liberated American counterparts. She said she wants to postpone marriage for another 10 years.

In her family, women marry young and have children, rather than go on to college, she explained. “I’m breaking the mold,” she said.