Marta Percolla is like a lot of four-year seniors at Monterey Bay Academy. She has taken part in many academy traditions. She’s written many papers, taken a lot of tests, been to numerous banquets and played in several sports tournaments. She’s attended vespers and church weekly, and she’s been to 11 weeks of prayer.

On Feb. 10, she did something very different from her ordinary routine — she was baptized!

“I’ve wanted to get baptized for the longest time, but something always came up,” Percolla says. “I’ve started Bible studies, but not finished them. Then during one vespers program I was helping Ms. Baerg [the academy’s math teacher] run the sound system, and we started talking about baptism. She started giving me Bible studies, and when you make an appointment with Ms. Baerg, you can’t miss it. So I stuck with it this time.”

In January, the Central California Conference Youth Evangelism Team came to the academy for two-months and Percolla began a second set of Bible studies with the team’s leader, Godfrey Miranda.

“Godfrey went through the 28 fundamental beliefs with me, and we talked about how each one applies to my life,” Percolla says. “Then we went through the list, and he asked me if I believed in each one. I’ve learned about Bible truth my whole life in school, in church and at home, but it’s a whole different experience when someone asks you directly what you believe. It was really exciting to realize that I do believe, and then I couldn’t wait to get baptized.”

Percolla chose to be baptized on Sabbath, Feb. 10, because it was also her mother’s birthday. She plans to study nursing at an Adventist college on the west coast, but first, she plans to enjoy the last MBA traditions before her June graduation.