(MONEY Magazine) – Stanford is one of the world's great universities. Astronaut Sally Ride, three of our current U.S. Supreme Court justices, many business leaders and several movie stars have graduated from Stanford. This year, Adriana Martinez, 22, will graduate too. On these and the following pages, Adriana shows us what college life is like. Stanford University's peaceful, grassy campus is in a small California community. Stanford is very different from the poor East Los Angeles neighborhood where Adriana grew up. Adriana had straight A's in high school, but her parents could not afford to pay for college. Her school guidance counselor, however, told her that many colleges are eager to attract minority students and will help pay their way. Adriana is Mexican American. Adriana applied to 10 colleges -- and was accepted at nine of them! She chose Stanford because it was within driving distance of home and a lot of its students are Mexican Americans. To help her come up with the $23,000 a year she needed to attend, Stanford put together a financial aid ''package'' that was made up of grants (money you don't have to pay back) and loans. Stanford also offered Adriana ''work/ study'' -- a part-time campus job that helps her pay tuition. In her freshman year, Adriana lived in a dorm, but now she shares a house off-campus with five girlfriends. Here is what her day is like: She gets up at 7:30 a.m. and goes for a three-mile run. After her chores, she drives to school. She has two or three classes each day, usually starting before noon. Her favorites are in history and anthropology, which is the study of different customs and cultures. Between classes, Adriana goes to her work/study job. This year, she is a peer counselor; that means she helps other students with any problems they have getting used to college life. Twice a week, Adriana practices with a Mexican folk-dancing group she belongs to. Afterward, she likes to come home, have dinner with her housemates and do her schoolwork. She listens to hip-hop and salsa music to relax. On weekends, Adriana works with a group that collects food for homeless people. In the evenings, she sometimes goes dancing at one of the clubs in town. And she always returns home to see her family during Thanksgiving, Christmas, spring break and summer vacation. This year, Adriana will graduate with a degree in international relations. She hopes to use her education to return to East L.A. and teach or work for an organization that helps poor Mexican Americans.

The way Adriana sees it, college is a special place because you get to do a % lot of things you like. But it's also a place where you begin thinking seriously about the rest of your life. ''Stanford is like a fantasy land,'' Adriana says. ''But it's also where you start to find out what the real world is all about.''