BRIDGING MAGAZINE 18th Edition | Spring 2019
Welcome Since 2001, 8th graders have participated in Citizen Schools’ 8th Grade Academy (8GA). This year was no exception: this magazine is the 18th edition and the product is again a cross between a literary magazine and a yearbook, full of examples of the hard work of our 8GA students, writing coaches, and AmeriCorps Teaching Fellows. Students across four schools contributed work for this year’s magazine and each piece you read here represents a year of hard work and dedication. These students are crossing the bridge to high school and we have full confidence in their future educational and career pathways. The metaphorical bridge this year, as in the past, was made up of several key program elements. The work you see here is a direct output of our Writing Program. This year, students and coaches met weekly to practice writing and navigate the high school transition. Together, students worked with their coaches to complete high school application essays, resumes, and the works you see here. We appreciate the dedication of both students and coaches; meeting weekly is a clear commitment to growth, learning, and the relationship they were building. Students also participated in College and Career Explorations. In these pages, you’ll hear about the trips students embarked on afterschool and on weekends. Several AmeriCorps Teaching Fellows planned trips over the course of the year so that students could explore opportunities beyond their classrooms. These trips connect students to the incredible resources and institutions right here in Boston. Additionally, students at all of our school sites participated in a range of Project- Based Electives, which ranged from a partnership with Stand Strong and the Boston Sports Museum to a coding class with GoIT. These courses provide opportunities for students to further develop their 21st Century skills such as problem-solving, innovation, and collaboration all while completing activities and projects with their classmates. Please dive into the stories and experiences our young people share on the subsequent pages. Many hands went into making it possible to share these stories; a heartfelt thank you to each person who helped make this possible. Enjoy reading! Lucy Arthur-Paratley Interim Director of Program, Citizen Schools Massachusetts 1 | Bridging Magazine 18th Edition
Bienvenidos Desde 2001, estudiantes en 8o grado han participado en el programa de Citizen Schools Academia de 8o Grado (8GA por sus signos en ingles). Este año no fue una excepción: este periódico es el 18º edición y el producto es otra vez una mescla de un periódico literaria y un anuario, lleno de ejemplos del trabajo duro de nuestros estudiantes de 8GA, entrenadores de escritura, y Teaching Fellows de AmeriCorps. Estudiantes tras cuatro escuelas contribuyeron trabajo al periódico este año y cada ensayo que lee aquí representa un año de trabajo duro y compromiso. Estos estudiantes están cruzando la puente a escuela secundaria y tenemos confianza en sus futuros educacionales y careras. La puente metafórica este año, como en el pasado, esta hecho de varias elementos del programa. El trabajo que vez aquí es el resultado directo del Programa de Escritura. Este año, estudiantes y entrenadores reunieron cada semana para practicar la escritura y navegar la transición a la escuela secundaria. Juntos, estudiantes trabajaron con sus entrenadores para completar ensayos para solicitar entrada en escuelas secundarias, hojas de vida, y los trabajos que usted ve aquí. Apreciamos el compromiso a crecer, aprender, y apoyar a relaciones. Estudiantes también participaron en Exploraciones de Carera y Universidad. En estas paginas, van a escuchar sobre los viajes después de escuela y los fines de semana. Varios Teaching Fellows de AmeriCorps planearon viajes durante el año para que los estudiantes pudieron explorar oportunidades fuera de sus salones de clase. Estos viajes conectaron estudiantes a los recursos increíbles e instituciones aquí en Boston. Adicionalmente, estudiantes en cada escuela con quien trabajamos participaron en varios Electivos Basados en Proyectos, cuales incluyeron una colaboración con Stand Strong y el Museo de Deportes en Boston a un clase de código con GoIT. Estos cursos dan oportunidades a estudiantes para desarrollar sus herimientos del 21º siglo como resolver problemas, innovación, y colaboración mientras que completan actividades y proyectos con sus compañeros de clase. Por favor lee las historias y experiencias de nuestros jóvenes en las paginas que vienen. Muchos manos contribuyeron a este esfuerzo de compartir estas historias; una gracias a cada persona quien ayudó. ¡Disfruta en leer! Lucy Arthur-Paratley Directora de Programa Interin, Citizen Schools Massachusetts Bridging Magazine 18th Edition | 2
To our Writing and Mentoring Program coaches, thank you.
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Table of Contents
College, City, & Career Explorations .............................................. 5 Orchard Gardens K-8 School ....................................................... 13 Ms. Burton’s Class ............................................................. 13 Ms. Bontemps’ Class ......................................................... 19 Trotter K-8 Elementary School ..................................................... 29 Mr. Davis’ Class .................................................................. 29 Winter Hill Community School .................................................... 38 Mr. Rodriguez’ Class .......................................................... 38 Youngh Achievers Science and Math Pilot School ..................... 46 Ms. Baez’ Class .................................................................. 46 Mr. Albers’ Class ................................................................ 51
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College, City, & Career Explorations
Museum of Science
The Museum of Science served as the destination for our first 8GA College, City, and Career Explorations trip. Students from each of our 8GA campuses arose early on a Saturday morning to explore the multitude of interactive exhibits on display. Students enjoyed the opportunity to facilitate their own learning about complex scientific concepts by taking charge of which exhibits they engaged with. The type of hands-on learning offered at the Museum of Science resides at the core of Citizen Schools’ value of learning by doing.
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Simmons University
Simmons University
On a crisp fall day, students from the Winter Hill, Young Achievers and Orchard Gardens Schools braved a Monday morning T ride to meet with the ladies of Simmons University. Simmons University, formerly Simmons College, is an all-women’s university located in the heart of Boston; it is a member of “The Fens,” a group of five city colleges in Fenway. Simmons tour guides greeted 8GA in the student center where they introduced themselves, their majors, and their unique school. Students learned that Simmons offers a wide berth of academic offerings including nursing, liberal arts, management, communications, social work, and library and information science. Afterward, students embarked on a scavenger hunt tour of the campus.
Scavenger hunt tasks included spotting important buildings on campus like the library, or taking a selfie with a current student sporting Simmons gear. Students even got a chance to take a bird’s eye view of the entire campus from a rooftop lounge. Throughout the tour, 8GA students asked questions about life as a college student, the admissions process, and the extracurricular activities available at the school. Students closed out the day with lunch in the dining hall and their choice of a yoga class or a BINGO session, a beloved Simmons pastime. Lucky BINGO winners took Simmons gear home, and everyone was treated to a performance from the dancing Simmons shark.
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College, City, & Career Explorations
Institute of Contemporary Art
The trip to the ICA was full of art, new experiences, and strangely enough- climbing through rings suspended in the air. We began the day by going through the Forsythe exhibit and it was an interactive mindbending experience. The students got to crawl beneath walls and test their vision and flexibility skills with the exhibits. They were in a room surrounded by screens with music playing from every corner and it was immersive and beautiful. The exhibits quickly became a mini competition. Who can cross the swinging rings without falling the fastest? Who can dodge the flowing pendulums without disrupting the rhythm? It was silly and fun and laughter echoed throughout the museum. We went to a small section of the museum where locally owned businesses had their goods and it felt good to be surrounded by a creative community. Students tasted jalapeno pickles and got soap samples that looked like sweet gumdrops. Everyone was so kind and so happy to tell these smiling middle school students all about their products, even if they knew they’d just be browsing. When the students were tired and ready to go, we headed back to the Citizen Schools headquarters for food and games. Uno seemed to be the favorite, and it was (as it should be) intense. It was a long day, but it ended on a sweet note. Art is so, so, important, and I hope they never forget that.
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Boston University
Boston University Boston University was a fun trip that brought all the 8th Graders from the Trotter and Young Achievers schools. The trip began and ended full throttle. All the students packed into MBTA buses for a 45 minute trek to BU’s campus. The Trotter’s students experienced adversity early on in their journey when their bus got into an accident that resulted smashed bus windows. Despite the initial difficulties that wer ultimately out of anyone’s hands, the students persevered and managed to pull of a fantastic experience. The college visit began with a college student panel, during which our 8th graders received the opportunity to speak with current college students about the college experience, and the struggles and successes that come with navigating a higher-education environment. A campus tour and free lunch at a BU dining hall followed the student panel. The day concluded with a powerful pesentation by the Black Arts Alliance.
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College, City, & Career Explorations
Tufts University On an early Friday morning, students from Trotter and Young Achievers traveled far and wide to reach Medford, MA where they got a glimpse of life as an undergraduate student at Tufts. Tufts University is a mid-size premier research institution known for both its academic rigor and active student engagement. Mr. Davis, a recent Tufts graduate and proud Teaching Fellow at Trotter, designed the field trip with the intent to offer insight into some of the resources and opportunities he benefited from as a low-income student and student of color. Students began their visit by engaging in a panel discussion with the College Access Initiative, a student-run collective comprised of first-generation college students. The panelists reflected on their experiences in high school and how those experiences impacted their decision to attend Tufts. This unique twist on the panel allowed the middle schoolers to think deeper about their next steps as incoming high school first-years and what goals they may have for their high school experience. Next, our students enjoyed performances from some of the most entertaining performance groups on campus. They bore witness to the strength of stepping from Blackout, Tufts allmale step team. They heard the sweet sounds of angelic music while listening to Essence, Tufts
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all-female acapella group singing music of the African Diaspora. Finally, they embraced the power of poetry as they sat in awe while listening to two award-winning spoken word poets. Next, we toured the Africana Center to learn about the rich history of the space and discussed the importance of culture and community with current students who live and frequently visit the center. Finally, students ate lunch in one of the dining halls on campus. Overall the day was long but worth every minute. The students enjoyed touring the campus, connecting with college students, learning about how a community is formed in college and the resources offered to help students. And the students had fun, which was another goal of the visit!
Framingham State University
Framingham State University
For the final College, City and Career exploration we took a trip to Framingham State University. The day included a tour of the campus, a student panel, and finally lunch in the campus’s main dining hall. Students got to visit all of the major buildings on campus. The tour was facilitated by current Framingham State students. Next, we went to the CIE (Center for Inclusive Excellence) for a panel of current students and alumni on campus sharing their experiences at FSU. The volunteers shared their experiences as students of color on campus, the process of getting through high school and into college. We ended the day by enjoying a meal in McCarthy Hall. Students got to experience what it felt like to be in a college environment and campus dining. This trip was courtesy of the College Planning Center and the CIE. We would like to give a special shout out to Iracely Sanchez, Alexandra Valdez and Uyen Hong for both funding and helping facilitate this trip.
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College, City, & Career Explorations
Interview Day Interview Day is a regional 8GA initiative where students get to practice their interview skills to help them prepare for interviews for high school and summer employment. 8GA students at Orchard Gardens, Trotter, Winter Hill, and Young Achievers; volunteers from Citizen Schools personal and professional networks; 8GA teaching fellows; and Citizen Schools staff participated in the event. In the weeks leading up interview day, the students were all nervous about the event. Students were stressing about what they were going to say due to the fact none of them had ever been interviewed before. After weeks of prep, the students felt more confident with themselves and their interview skills. Students had their own trial runs and practiced answering questions that they might be asked. When interview day finally arrived students were nervous and excited to get the process started. Once they met the volunteers, the students immediately became nervous. With a little pep talk from the volunteers, the students were ready. Volunteers had a small number of students and a rubric which had different elements of a ‘perfect’ interview. Students were shy at first but once they answered a couple of questions they were confident; that’s when their personalities shined.
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Interview Day
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Orchard Gardens K-8 School Partnered wtih:
Ms. Burton’s Class My Orchard Gardens Family, What a wild ride it’s been. I’m honestly so proud of all of y’all. We went from frustrated sighs and angry yelling to forming a real bond. Sometimes the days were stressful, but when one of you would run up to me and hug me and tell me that you’re so excited for my class, it made it all worth it. I watched you mature as students and you helped me mature as an educator. You taught me the importance of listening. It seems like something that’s straight forward, but we all know it’s not. Teachers always think they’re right, but y’all absolutely proved that that wasn’t true. I learned so much from y’all, it was such a humbling experience. No matter how many times I had to say “stop talking! Ms. Burton is talking!” I couldn’t have picked a better group of kids for my first year of teaching. You may not like to admit it, but you all really cared. It meant so much to me if I ever seemed frustrated and you all genuinely meant it when you asked “Are you ok?” even if we were just bickering over an assignment. I can’t wait to see what you all do in the future. If any of y’all ever get famous, remember your favorite teacher was Ms. Burton! You all have amazing lives ahead of you, no matter what paths you choose. I’m going to miss you all so much, even though you wouldn’t stop touching my hair, and badgering me about my first name. It’s pronounced Zha-nay by the way. Let’s see if you can remember that. Maybe (hopefully) I’ll be teaching at your high school one day. I’m just an email away if you need me. Thanks for making this job so worth it.
Please, stay your most authentic selves. Obrigadu Gracias Thank You
Love the coolest Citizen Schools teacher, Ms. Burton
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Ms. Burton’s Class
My Inspiration is My Stepdad By Janiah
My inspiration is my stepdad. He’s a 30-year-old man that is very successful. He’s very smart and wants what’s best for people and helps bring out the best in people. He describes himself as a “Diligent day trader with 5+ years of experience trading variety of market instruments.” He also has over 700 students worldwide and helps people achieve financial freedom. What inspires me about him is what he does takes a lot of studying and dedication as well as motivation. He brings out the best in me by encouraging me and making me feel confident about myself. My stepdad inspires me not only because of the person he is but because of what does; my stepdad is an amazing person. He cares not only for the people he loves but for others as well. He donates every month to different organizations and tries to help others who need help as much as possible. For example, my step dad’s friends and my mother all put some money together and bought a lot of toiletries to support and hand it out to people in need. That inspires me because he’s not doing it for anything in return he just does it because he can do it and he wants to appreciate the fact that he can help others. In addition to helping others, he travels a lot to see what there is waiting for him in this beautiful world. He does not believe there’s a stopping point to what you can do and he believes there’s so much more to what you think your capable of. This inspires me because when you’re a successful person like my stepdad, you don’t have to worry about not being able to pay certain bills because of a trip you are going to make. You can travel and enjoy your time. The fact that he travels a lot inspires me because you get to explore different cultures and learn more about them which is something I will definitely enjoy. He also believes “everyone is gifted”. They need to have hope and be motivated to find their purpose in life. A lot of people believe that life is just going to school and getting a good job to be able to provide for yourself and your family. Life is way more than that. My stepdad grew up in poor public housing and nobody taught him about investing money or even how to make a lot of money. Now he’s teaching over 700 students worldwide and helps people achieve financial freedom. This is one of the reasons my stepdad inspires me because he didn’t let the fact that he lived a rough life when he was younger get in the way; instead, he used that to motivate himself.
My stepdad inspires me because of the kind-hearted inspiring person he is.
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Essays from Orchard Gardens
My Inspiration By Joana
My inspiration is my mom. She is a kind and caring mother who is 38-years-old, tall, has black hair, and brown eyes. She inspires me because she works hard for her kids, for herself and protects her children from any kind of danger. One of the reasons I want to be like her is because she is a mother who doesn’t let her kids forget where they and herself are from. I want to be a person who doesn’t forget where I came from. One way she doesn’t let her kids forget where they came from is by telling jokes and stories about Cape Verde. One day when we had a family night, we talked about Cape Verde and how we used to live there. We talked about how we had fun there with our family who still lives there. She told us a story about how my older brother got stuck on the tree because he wanted to impress my older sister and my aunt. But when he noticed that he was stuck, he started crying and yelling for my uncle.
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My mom tells us how Cape Verde is. She says that it is always warm there and that the trees are always green in the summer. I like it there because it is warm almost every day. I was born in Cape Verde and then I moved here to America when I was 10 years old. Now I’m 14 years old, so it hasn’t been that long since I’ve been to Cape Verde. Although I was there recently, I can’t speak Creole as well as I used to. In my house, the only person that I talk to in Creole is my mom. I forget how to say some words but my mom helps me with them and that is why I want to be like her. Another reason I want to be like her is because she works hard. She works two jobs all week. The only day she does not work two job is Saturday and Sunday. She works one job on Saturday and takes Sunday off. The only time I see her is when she has a day off or when it’s Saturday or Sunday. I want to work hard like my mother is working. I want to work hard for her because she is always working,which makes me sad. She is working two jobs and taking care of 5 kids so I want to get an education, get a good job and take care of her like she takes care of me and my siblings.
In 15 Years… By Sonia In 15 years I would be 28 years old. I am hoping that my Neonatal Nursing career would be successful. Singing is my passion and I would not give that up so I am hoping to inspire others to not give up what they believe in. Starting a volunteer organization would be a great experience because I could help others, especially the homeless and the children hospitals. You all get the point; I want to be a successful, independent woman. But how did I get there you ask? First of all I graduated from high school. I went to college and graduated with a 4 year Bachelor of Science in nursing degree (BSN). Before I officially started my nursing career, I traveled to Hawaii, Brazil, Jamaica, Angola, and Texas. My first year starting my dream job was very stressful because I did not want anything to go wrong. I got used to it and now it’s the best thing that could’ve happened to me. I can see myself living in my dream home with my kids, mom, and husband. I would see my kids running around in the backyard and smell my mom’s cooking. I would taste my husband’s food for the first time. I would hear the loud music playing while we clean up. I would touch my daughter’s hair. A typical day in my life is going to work and then going home to my family. Seeing a newborn baby and hearing them cry for the first time is the best feeling ever. After a long day at work, seeing people you love at the end of the day is such a good feeling. I enjoy playing hide and go seek with my kids and watching them run around happily. When the kids are finally tired, I love giving them baths and reading them a good night story. My daughter was named after my middle name which is Sofia. My son’s name is Jordan. My husband is tall and he is mixed and has hazel eyes. My mom is still a strong, independent, and beautiful woman. Having them by my side every day is a blessing because without their motivation I would not be where I am now.
Ms. Burton’s Class
This I Believe By Helio
What I believe in is the harder you try the better you get at what you are doing. I believe in this because I had an experience before that proved it was true. One day my teacher told us to try our best on a test. I did and I got an “A” on the test. I will be ready for the next test. If other people ask for advice I would tell them what I know so they work harder and better. This experience happened at Orchard Gardens in a classroom with students and my teacher. I could see a pattern that everyone told me to try hard to get better at what I am good at. I decided to listen to her and try my best and I did. The person who was talking was my teacher and she was talking to the class. This experience helped shape my belief that by trying your hardest you can achieve your own goals. I study more and take more notes in class. I felt good after passing the test. Studying and taking notes helps me get better grades in other classes and on other tests. The better the grade you get the more the world offers to you. If other people were to try working hard they might achieve their goals and at the end of the day they might feel better. This will benefit teachers by helping their students who need their help. This will also help teachers see where everyone is at in their class. This might help students get in to better high schools and colleges. I wish them luck. Hard work will always help in my life and other people’s lives too. Another reason I believe in hard work is because of how my parents worked hard to get money to get a house and to make me go to school. Your parents may have done the same thing to help you have a bright future. And how they would be with you till the end. Which tells you why I believe in hard work and why you should too.
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Essays from Orchard Gardens
Yechiel’s Hotel: The Best Building Ever By Yechiel
In 15 years from now I will be a successful architect based out of Boston. I will have built the tallest building ever. It will be 3,158 feet tall. There will be a hotel at the top of the building and an arcade at the bottom. It will be called Yechiel’s Hotel. I will also live on the top floor of the building. The building will be square at the bottom and get smaller and smaller by the time it gets to the top. It will be built on top of the Mass Pike and will have a glass tunnel which is see through and cars can drive through it. There are two tunnels and each tunnel will also have a parking lot. It has lights on it and the colors will be lit up at night and change color depending on the holiday. For Christmas it will be blue. For Thanksgiving it will be yellow. For halloween it will have pictures of bats. On Fourth of July it will be light blue and will have fireworks. On Easter it will be rainbow colored. On Easter there will be an Easter Egg hunt in the building.The winner will get $100. For my birthday it will be orange. Every Friday there will be Fortnite tournaments and the winner will win $100. Only 50 people can sign up in the tournament. There are no teams, they will all be facing each other. The building will also have putt-putt and go karts. They can go 15 miles per hour. The puttputt course will have dinosaurs and planets. The building will also have laser tag. It will have 30 on 30 throughout the whole building. There will be virtual reality Fortnite in the arcade. There will be a giant claw game just so it could pick up the big prizes. There is also an attachment where people can wear a harness and grab their own prizes. There is a big pool with normal water. There will be 3 waterslides. Two of the three waterslides will be the racing waterslides.
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The winner gets a prize, and if you win again you can trade it up to a bigger prize. If you lose then you go down a prize.The third waterslide will be a long water slide that will be dark inside of the waterslide. The rooms of the hotel will have a nice bed and a nice bathroom with big windows that you can see everything outside. The higher the hotel room is the more expensive it is. It will also have a TV that you can change it to 3D when watching movies.There will also have a telescope so when it’s night you can see different planets. This made my life a lot better because it got me everything I needed and wanted. Also my family enjoys it and so do I. Before I built the building I had to build houses for other people and the more buildings I built the more I got paid. I also went to college at Harvard University. When I am not at work I like to go to places and eat some food that I like, like rice and chicken, chicken and french fries, BBQ chicken, or pepperoni pizza with my family and sometimes friends. I also like to play games and go ride bikes and explore. I have a private chef that can cook any meal in the world. The private chef is only for me. The other people have their own cook.
My Inspiration: Misty Danielle Copeland!!! By Zamya
Hello! My name is Zamya and my inspiration is a woman named Misty D. Copeland. Misty is an African American ballet dancer at the American Ballet Theater and a motivational speaker that helps young boys and girls that want to pursue a career in ballet. Misty was born in Kansas City, Missouri and raised in San Pedro, California. She was adopted at a young age and is the youngest of her three siblings.
The reason why Misty inspires me is because she is one of very few if not the only African American in the ABT. I have a great love and passion for ballet because of Misty. She helped me learn new dances and made me become focused just like her and be almost famous like her in my current school Orchard Gardens and Boston Arts Academy and maybe even on the bigger stages like Alvin Ailey and American Ballet Theater.
Ms. Burton’s Class
In 15 Years By Siliaris
I will be starting my career as a cardiologist. I have accomplished my high school diploma, medical degree, internal training , and specialized training. I will meet my best friend in my first year of med school. Hopefully my mom and my dad are still alive. The things that happened to get to this place were: I successfully graduated high school, med school, etc , and I did my best as I could. My hobby in 15 years will be going to a spa or relaxing at home.
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Essays from Orchard Gardens
Ms. Bontemps’ Class
Dear 8th Graders, You all have done so much this year to grow and blossom. However, life doesn’t go the way you want it to, which is what we all experienced. Although we may have argued, yelled at each other, and were ready to give up, we made it through. We survived and are ready for our next chapter in life. Throughout the year, you all made me want to pull my hair out, but I stayed because you all shined in your own domain. Many of you were determined to write an amazing essay to show your personality to get into your top choice for high school. With that motivation, you were able to reflect on yourself. I have also seen you build amazing relationships with your coaches. I remember you all being worried that they would not show, and would ask, “Miss! Is my coach here?” Those relationships you have built are strong and will stick with you for many years. This year, you all have tested me to the brinks of the earth. The more you pushed, the stronger I became as a teacher. Even though you all are suppose to learn from me, I learned so much from you. You all have taught me to be patient, what a bar is, creole words, and so much more. Next year, I will take what I have learend from you all and help me support my students in the future. Although you are all going down different paths, you willl stay connect through emails, SnapChat, text, and other forms. You all have dreams and goals that you can achieve. We all have grown this year and still have other things to overcome. As you read this, remember that you are capable of so many things that you can accomplish.
Best of luck, Ms. Bontemps
Partnered wtih:
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This is my life in 15 years . . . By Destinee
I am now 31 years old and have been a cardiothoracic surgeon now for about one year and a half. I am currently working in LA at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. I live with my 2 year old son, Excelyain, and my husband, Jean. Also I have a 5-month-old husky. I had just moved into the hills from the city of LA; my view is unspeakable. I live just on top of a hill where the Hollywood sign is located and I can see the whole LA skyline. I had just turned 24 when I had graduated medical school. I had attended Harvard Medical School. Before I had attended Harvard Medical School, I had gone to Harvard for my undergraduate degree in biology. It was a wonderful experience. There were a lot of ups and downs during this journey. There were a lot of stress, tears, and all nighters. At the end of all this, something good came out: I had graduated from medical school with my parents and my friends right beside me. I am now 25 years old and I am a resident at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. I just met my husband the first year I started residency. I was 25 and he was 27. We both were studying the same specialty. What I saw in my husband was something I didn’t see in others; he was different and I like different. We have so many things alike. We both played sports when we were little, we both wanted to become doctors, and we both like trying something new (food, music, places). My first year I started was pretty tough. Everyday I would work on a new patient. We would have to remember everything that’s wrong about them and take tests every Wednesday. If I was ever failing, I would take hours just to study that one thing that I didn’t understand, and wouldn’t go to sleep until I had gotten it. Over the years I had gotten better at my job and gained more expertise.
Ms. Bontemps’ Class , because I had a patient who was 93 years old and had had a heart attack. I had to find out what was wrong with him and I noticed the symptoms that he was having and I called it a heart attack because I remembered the last test I took as a resident was about heart attacks. - Pressure, tightness, pain, or a squeezing or aching sensation in your chest or arms that may spread to your neck, jaw or back, - Nausea, indigestion, heartburn or abdominal pain, - Shortness of breath, - Cold sweat, - Fatigue, - Lightheadedness or sudden dizziness, These are the symptoms that a patient with a heart attack is having. Everyday I go home to my handsome son and husband, and to my 2 year old son. Before I lived in the house I live at now I used to live in an apartment in the city. Everyday I would hear cars in the highway honking and you could just see buildings from where I lived. Once I started to work as a cardiothoracic surgeon my money got bigger and my husband got paid more too. Me and my husband had thought about buying a house but we didn’t know where till we look in Beverly Hills. I never would have thought I would have moved up all the way to there but our jobs and hard work made it happen. Everyday I thank God about how grateful I am to be here with my beautiful family.
I am now a doctor at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. I’m 31 years old and been a doctor for a year in a half. My first day was stressful Bridging Magazine 18th Edition | 20
Essays from Orchard Gardens
15 Years By Kelecia
As I get home from school, I sit down on the black leather couch and warm up with the thoughts of getting to watch my favorite show. As I get become comfortable I quickly remember how I didn’t get a blanket. I rapidly run upstairs and get a blanket and sit before I turn the tv on. Once I turn the tv on, I see children in tears. I watch as parents get ripped away from their children. All of a sudden im transported into a life unimaginable. Children and families are getting separated because they are undocumented. I feel frustrated because parents and children don’t deserve to be separated. I begin thinking about what I can do to help. A thought arose into my head like the sun over a distant mountain, “Maybe I can be a lawyer someday.” I remember how badly I wanted my blanket, and suddenly all of my problems transform into privileges and opportunities to make this world a better place. I began thinking about my career and what I can do to help the problem. Becoming a children’s rights lawyer is a goal of mine because I will be able to have a direct impact on families’ lives. Seeing the devastation on my television has led me to become passionate about reaching towards this dream. I turn my attention from my TV to my computer as I begin researching where to begin on the journey to my ultimate goal, wondering how Google will be able to lead me down my next path.
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LeRoyal’s Song Hook: In 15 years big house and fancy cars Feel like I from another planet So I’m like an Avatar But I was built for this life Never blind like the mice Just wait in 15 Be living my best life In 15 years big house and fancy cars Feel like I’m from another planet So they call me Avatar But I was built for this life Baby mama cute wife Just wait in 15 Be living my best life Verse: Imma tell you how it started Just a kid with a dream Since youngin been keen Yeah it is what it seems Then I woke up one day Like I need my money now Gotta make my momma proud Make the bread pass it around Please nobody make a sound Cause Kids Flamez is in your town But I’ll be up in the hills Shopping that can pay your bills Just looked at the account And you know I’m seeing mills Can’t wait to hit a bill I’m going in for the kill Why they always mad I just get the bag How’d you get the bag Started flipping durags Then called the brodie up Like I got a master plan He said hell do what he can Then we started making bands
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By Andrea
Essays from Orchard Gardens
15 years Into The Future By Attiya
Have you ever lived with four idiots and stoppd caring about what stupid things they do every day? Or had to hear screaming in the kitchen over what to make for lunch? Well let me tell you about it. I would be in my room minding my business and I hear, “NO I WILL NOT BE EATING LUNCH MADE BY YOU!” I would know the person yelling so I would get up and walk over to the kitch,en when I hear a different voice yelling. “IT’S NOT LIKE I SPIT IN IT!” along with “THAT IS EXACTLY SOMETHING YOU WOULD DO THAT YOU OAF!” I run into the kitchen. You would think in 2034 she would stop thinking that; we have been friends since 2016, and she still doesn’t trust her. It’s kind of sad. Remember this day the day: June XXth, 2034, Boston MA. I made lunch for the first time. I grab a pan and stop the argument by saying, “Ok I will make lunch, so stop arguing before I go Rapunzel on y’all idiots!” Andrea takes the pan out my hand and says, “We don’t trust you to cook either. Remember last time?” “I promise I won’t burn anything,” I said. I took the pan, some bread, and some other things. I try to make a sandwich and somehow I make Ramen. My friends look at me with the what the heck did you do face. I looked at the Ramen, grabbed it, and put in the fridge and tried it a few more times. I made seven bowls of Ramen. I layed on the floor with several cans of cola surrounding me, crying. My friend Kierra walks in from her date. She looks down at me and says, “Are you ok? Why is there Ramen on the floor?” Her boyfriend walks into the livingroom to see my other two friends, Desiree and Andrea, on the couch watching TV. I responded to my friend by saying, “Be gone, child!”
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Before all this happened, I was finishing up a video game commission, because thats what us gaming nerds like to draw and watch all day. The youtube channel me and my friends have has mostly drawing videos and vlogs, no video games. I don’t want another broken computer. Yes in 15 years Fortnite is still a thing and Andrea can’t play it without raging (sometimes). After I’m done sulking on the floor, I pick up all the cola off the floor. I get stopped in the hallway by a dang cat. It growled at me. Maybe it hates when I drink too much cola like Kierra. I try to go around him and he hits me; he is evil. I almost dropped my cola because of him, and I have a scratch on my leg - now he will pay. When I get to my room, the curtains are closed as usual, and the desk lamp is on over the commission I was working on. It was a picture of the character from the game Deltarune. The character’s name is Dr.WD Gaster. He is a pretty mysterious guy (yes I’m a nerd) . He was a royal scientist and a skeleton who fell into his own creation and was removed from existence. Anyway, I started to commision art when people found my work on an app called Amino. I posted work for my oc’s (original characters) and fanart. My name was Sombody_43pan. My friend Marian had the app, too, so we talked to each other on there. She drew mostly animals. She was kind of a furry but I did not care: she was cool. Desiree draws, too. She does mostly semi-realism or a cartoon style. She likes sprite and annoying us. Andrea………..is special. The other two, Kierra and Nakens, are dating. I used to hate Nakendo, but now I don’t. Kierra is someone I have known since k-2, and she is a pretty good person. She draws sometimes, but not often. She likes to sing, and act like a mom to all of us. She is very protective over us to the point whenever I am not talking or putting my head down, she threatens to hurt whoever made us sad. I continued to draw the character - well I guess inking it - and I hear someone running towards my room. I get up, grab something from my closet, and I wait at the door. It did not take
The door swung open to reveal 4 people yelling, “WE’RE GOING TO WENDY’S. GET DRESSED!” I was confused, as usual. Kierra came up to me and says, “just get dressed.” I said ok but I already am. She looked at me and says “something colorful please.” I always tend to wear black clothes, so all I do is put a yellow headband on and get in the car ( I’m not driving b/c I’m lazy). Kierra looks back at me and yells “THAT’S NOT COLORFUL, STUPID!” I look at her and point at the bright yellow headband. She facepalms. Nakendo starts the car and we drive off. After a few minutes, all I hear is “are we there yet?” I look at Andrea. She starts to laugh, and she starts saying it over and over. Nakendo starts to get mad, yelling “DO YOU NOT WANT YOUR WENDY’S? SHUT UP PLEASE!!!!!” As he was looking at the back of him, Kierra yelled, “THERE’S A TURKEY ON THE ROAD! THE WHEEL, GET THE WHEEL!!” He swings back, almost hitting another car, and pulled over. I start laughing, then our car window gets smashed in by a tree branch.
Ms. Bontemps’ Class I grab a stick to defend myself, and walk towards them. It got to the point where they got close enough to hit them with the stick. So I do, and yell, “geeeeet dunked on!” The person fell on the ground and I realized who it was. It was Desiree….. Welp I’m dead when she wakes up. Then again I’ll be fine. A few seconds later, she gets up and, as expected, I got yelled at. Me and my other friends came out the bushes. They weren’t even worried. They just told me to get in the car. It was a quiet ride home, but once we got home, I of course locked myself in my room so Desiree could not get in. And I fell asleep in front of my door. 15 years and all of us are still friends doing stupid things since 2016. And that’s it.
Desiree gets glass in her arm and it starts bleeding. Andrea asks if we killed the turkey. Everyone looks at her with the “are you stupid” face. I get out of the car to do something stupid. Since we are right next to the woods (or just a lot of trees). I start to climb one of them. By the time I’m up there, I realize the car is gone. Well then guess they left me. Ok … When they come back I won’t be here. I climb down the tree, and start running to Wendy’s. It did not go very well because of Asthma. I start to slow down, and started to walk. I tripped and fell because I don’t tie my shoes (stupid I know). At this point I really don’t care. I get up and keep walking. At this point, it’s starting to get dark, but not cold, and less and less cars are coming down the highway. So me being stupid, I go into the woods (in the future I still have no brain whatsoever). I walk around for a while, trying to find other people, when I see what looks to be someone with a flashlight coming towards me. Bridging Magazine 18th Edition | 26
Essays from Orchard Gardens
In 15 Years By Marian
In 15 years, I would be an animator and an artist. I would try animating small drawings. I would learn to animate for 4 years or more in high school. Then I would go to University of Massachusetts. I hope to do good in college and take many art classes or do many art activities and animating many of my drawings. After college, I would work from home and would be self-employed. I would be inside my cozy house with my blanket most of the time. I would have a husky and my current dogs. My dogs will stay with the name they have and my husky would be named Snowy. I would feed my dogs and I would sometimes walk my dogs outside and play with them. I would have a big backyard and I would let all my dogs out when they need to go outside and run around. I may also try and make a YouTube channel and make animation videos and try to get many subscribers. I would also paint at home away from the dogs for a bit because one of my dogs, Fluffy, likes to play with my pencil and barks a lot while I’m drawing. When he sees it moving and he also would jump in and try to bite it and it would mess up my drawing, the one that’s my favorite out of all of them. He is so cute and he is small and fluffy. I would not go outside a lot. I would order online some things when I need them like food, paper, and other stuff. I would play games with some of my friends and watch videos, and text my friends and might invite some of my friends to play with me like Attiya, Andrea, Tia, Jamari, Desiree. Kierra and I, we would talk or play some random weird game. I would have many sweets like cake and cookies I would order or maybe try to learn how to cook but probably burn the kitchen down. I will get my dogs out and my laptop and phone but the kitchen would probably be fine as well as the living room since I’m probably not that bad at cooking but I would call my friends anyway in a panic
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and make them come for no reason instead of calling a firefighter and then run because Andrea will get mad and also from some other people like Kierra but I would give her a KitKat to calm her down. I would also annoy Andrea by filling her messages or mailbox with furries and lot of them just for fun. I would also have some healthy things like pineapple strawberry maybe some apple or not but I will have other things I like also. I would be happy in my house not having to go out a lot and being in my bed within my soft warm bed with my blanket. That would be me in 15 years; just a NORMAL person with 5 dogs and will stay inside most of the time and drawing furries and would probably have some pants with a tail and headband with wolf ears or cat ears. That would be me in 15 years.
Mykayla’s Song You wanna get deep and get nosy well then let’s get to the context I was raised in the Bean right next to The projects Smoking and drinking outside the house it Made me feel nauseous Didn’t know who for real or who is a snake I had To be cautious I was down but I’m up now Get a bag got a touchdown Told my squad it’s just us now We don’t know who to trust now Now they show so much love now So I gotta learn to adjust now I’m going way up I’m really cannot go Back down Always got good grades never a class Clown Ain’t rocking gucci ain’t rocking Prada Racism all around they tryna stop us We need to improve communities We are one act as a unity Took the chance the opportunity Was all hard work no foolery
I used to ride to on the T bus Now I ride in a big range truck Big people stay call me cause they wanna discuss Now I stay walking around carrying big Bucks I started up on the cloud posting lil Small tracks I used to text for a feature never got a text back Now everybody want features so they hitting jack I learned I have to be cautious because my skin color Black Ain’t have no studio so I had to record on a phone I had to do what I had to do to get down to the bone And now I’m high in sky was higher than drone And now record labels cant even leave me alone
Ms. Bontemps’ Class
My Big Sister By Tanisha
Intelligence comes from your mother. That we both have in common. You are Never giving up which makes you special. You are so Supporting when it comes to your family. You are always Pushing me when it comes to my education. You are an Incredible, independent young woman that I love. You are a Reliable role model whenever I need you. You are Always getting right back up. I’m so so Thankful that we are sisters. You Inspire me to do more in life. You are an Outstanding mother, sister, and daughter. I bet No one in the world has a sister like you.
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Essays from The Trotter
The Trotter K-8 School Partnered wtih:
Mr. Davis’ Class Peace Trotter Squad, Thank you. For challenging me. For humbling me. For teaching me. Your curiosity has pushed me to ask more questions instead of being quick to respond with (what I think are) answers. Your energy has compelled me to take this work of serving young people serious but not take myself too serious. Your honesty has reaffirmed the value of telling the truth and learning to do so with compassion. So thank you. We’ve shared many laughs and great moments together as a class community. Each and every one of you have had your challenges this year AND y’all have grown in tremendous ways both individually and collectively. It is my hope that all of you find this letter to be another testament of how proud I am of y’all. Additionally I take pride in the fact that y’all are the first group of students I have worked with/ served for an entire school year. Because of each and every one of you, I have grown into a better teacher and a better person. For these reasons (and more), I hope to carry the beautiful memories of our experiences this year with me forever. Finally, given our numerous conversations in class about societal issues/injustices and what can be done to end them, I leave you with one final gem from the late great James Baldwin: “Precisely at the point when you begin to develop a conscience you must find yourself at war with your society.”
Go forth. Do good. Be well. Find yourself at war with our (current) society. Commit to building the new society that all of you deserve.
In Solidarity & With Gratitude, Mr. Davis
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Mr. Davis’ Class
My Life in 15 Years
Future NBA Player
Have you ever dreamed of making it out of somewhere with more life and opportunities? Getting to travel the world, seeing so many things and making money while doing it? The best of both worlds, going to California where it’s always warm and the palm trees are swaying. My job when I’m 29 years old will be a Fashion Designer from home and a traveling nail technician.
15 years from now I see myself as a professional basketball player. I want to be on the Boston Celtics team and I want to be a point guard. I want to have an endorsement with Jordan, travel around the world, help my family with the money I receive and donate money to kids who have cancer.
By Cidal
By Charlene
How did I get to the position I am in today? I finished high school at English High School and went to beautician college. I became a nail tech to save money to go to the school of Fashion Design in Boston. As I’m going to school for fashion design I’m still doing nails and saving. After I finish Fashion Design school, I go to California for the opportunities of a lifetime in Runway. The people I’m trying to provide for with this career opportunity are my grandparents, my little brother, and my fiancé. I plan to stay in Boston to be close to family when off from work. I will also balance living in California to help with travels back and forth. I chose to be a Fashion Designer because I wanted to be the first in my family to do something with myself and finish college. I plan a career with something I want to do as a job and have fun while doing it. I also wanted to be a Fashion Designer to make clothes for all body types and make clothes that allow everyone to feel confident and comfortable in their clothes. So everyone has a chance to express themselves through clothes if they wanted to. Growing up, I understand what it’s like to not have the privilege of having money to spend on things you want. When I make a line of clothes, I also want to make them affordable for everyone to buy. So, when I do get a popular clothing line developed, that’s what I would do with the clothes and give back to my community, where I’m from. After I retire from being a Fashion Designer, I plan on starting my own program to help young teens to pursue fashion designing. This could be a profession or just as a hobby.
How I reached my goal?
I reached my goal by going to BC high, get good grades, and make it on a basketball team. My goal is to go to Duke University, get to AAU league, get a job and make money. The job I want would be either be Footlocker or Finish line. And the most important last thing that I’m going to do is when I am done going to high school I’m going to go to college, work hard, get good grades and be on time every day and play for a basketball team. My goal is to play for Duke University and be the star on the team. My goal is to carry the team to the championship game. In the 4th quarter, one second on the clock and the score is 110-108. We are losing by two and I shoot the ball for the game and score for the win from the 3-point line and we win the championship!
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Essays from The Trotter
In 15 Years? By Destiny
In 15 years my life will hopefully be like a dream because of how wonderful it will be. My life setting in 15 years will be a beautiful 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment penthouse. I will be a preschool teacher with 2 kids, one boy, and one girl who share a room, a puppy and a gorgeous husband. The rest of the people that will be involved in my life will be my mom, aunts, children, husband, dad, and grandmother. Before I got my dream job I was an engaged mother, about to get married and my job was a substitute teacher for elementary students. Hopefully, after I get married I am happy and full of energy so that I can put all of that energy towards getting my dream job and making my kids, Laylanie (4) and Jackson (2) happy.
My Life in 15 Years By Donald
My life in 15 years to me, will look very happy and successful. I am then a veterinarian, who helps animals all around the world, to make their lives better and to protect them from extinction. I do understand that they are all hunted and need to be hunted both by us humans and even other animals for food and clothing. I just want them to have a good enough life and for them not to be over hunted. I have completed college and excelled through graduate school to residency. I still have my best friends who have jobs of their own and are very successful. I have my family in my life still supporting me-- my mom, my dad, my brother, etc. Away from work, my hobbies are either building something or hunting some animals for food or clothing, but I make sure not to overdo it. The way I think of it, my life currently looks bright. In my life for years, ever since I was young, I have always liked animals. I would go outside
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and try to catch a lizard or an insect or even a rat, basically anything that I could catch. I loved to study animals; learning their traits, habits, etc. After high school, I graduated from Tufts University and for two years I attended the Tufts University of Veterinary Medicine. After that, I attended both internship and residency and excelled through those to finally become a vet. As a vet I am called, Dr. Hicks and my job is to try to my best ability to cure sick or injured animals which are brought in either by their owners or by someone who rescued them from danger or I would just give someone’s pet a checkup. Those couple of years in those schools would be tough, but I believe it would be worth it. I would be living at my old home in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, my house is in a small neighborhood and it is a very peaceful place. There I could hear the birds singing and children playing, it’s a very nice sound to hear every day. When I walk outside I can smell the scent of the flowers and breathe in the fresh air. When I walk to work I would stop by Tim Horton’s to eat some sweet donuts and for lunch, I would eat spicy patties from the store. It is a very nice place to live. I think of my home as a get away from the city. Every other day of the week I walk from my home to the hospital I work at. When I walk to my assigned room for patients I would see people sitting down with animals that are injured, sick, or just pets which need a monthly or weekly checkup. Many times, when I go in for the day, I would, for example, examine people’s dogs for fleas and if I find any I would use tweezers to remove the flea, give the dog vaccinations in case of diseases, then I would give the dog a treat for being calm. Other times I would get in maybe a parrot which has a bad case of diarrhea and give it prescribed medication to cure it. At the end of the day, I would grab my stuff, say, ¨Goodbye¨ or ¨See you tomorrow,¨ and just walk on my way home. Later at the end of the day, I would meet up with my friends and just hangout. Although I have a lot of work, it is a job I enjoy, and I get my paycheck on the scheduled day.
Mr. Davis’ Class
My Inspiring Friend By Jacob
When I was 4 years old I started playing sports. The person that inspired me was my friend that lives next to me, Tito. He was the one that got me interested in basketball, football, and baseball. When I was around two or three I moved to Cleaves Court in Boston, Mass. Tito was my neighbor when I first moved into the house I live in now. When I first moved my mother didn’t want me to go outside but my aunt did. I ended up going outside with my aunt and around that time I met him. That is when I first started playing sports with Tito, then as I got older I started doing pickup games and streetball. The first person I met through Tito is his brother Amani. He was the first person that I started doing pickup games with. The reason why I don’t do pickup games as I used to is that my asthma is getting more severe than it was. When I play ball at recess there is at least one ball hog that thinks he is better than everyone, but he is not. It’s harder to play with ball hogs because they don’t pass the ball and act like they are better than everyone. At the end of summer in 2019, I played the most respectful game to the sport of basketball I’ve ever had. It was the best game because there was no talking trash about other people, no disrespect after the game, and no fights that would have happened. I was shooting three-pointers like it was nothing, splashed almost every shot I took I made. I felt amazing after playing that game because It was combining my terrible health with exercising to help me become stronger. I know working out is a good thing but my mother is kind of overprotective which is why she doesn’t let me go out and exercise. I understand why my mother is doing what she’s doing. It’s because of the violence in the streets, the people I hang out with, and it’s just straight out dangerous. I have been doing better listening wise and I have been helping out more in the house but I still go out with friends.
She’ll say something like you will have to get better in the house. I keep saying I’m getting better but she says I can do better than that. I think I can, but it depends on what it is. When it comes to talking back to her, or anyone, I can definitely do a better job at it. I tend to talk back to teachers and my parents a lot without noticing. I try to stop, however, it’s a hard habit to break. So, I try to the best of my ability. I’ve gotten in trouble for it before, for my swearing but it wasn’t a suspension or expulsion for it. In conclusion, sports are still taking a big part of my life. When I was little it was a way for me to meet new people and be social. As I got older it was a way for me to channel my anger and feelings. I used to and still do argue with people, but nobody’s perfect and I’m still working on not argue with people. This month I got accepted into Community Academy of Science and Health. There is going to be a new me and it is going to be the next chapter of my life.
My Future By Jaden
The year is 2025 and I am 20. In 2023, I graduated from English High School with a GPA of 3.0. I was accepted to Tufts University in the school of business and administration. So far, I like it. School is hard except for English and Math; because I like these subjects they don’t seem as hard. I am lucky I live on campus, if I didn’t, it would be a far ride to get there. I live by myself which helps me study more and helps me stay cleaner. It’s fun to stay there since a lot of my friends stay there and we hang out a lot. My friends and I help each other pay our rent together which is easier for us since one of my friends is a dorm leader. After I graduate from Tufts, I will continue to live in Boston so I can be near my family and make sure they’re ok. I plan on living in a house in Weymouth and work as a CEO for a business. I will have two kids and a wife.
Essays from The Trotter
My Future Life By James
“To succeed, you have to try. To try, you have to motivate yourself.” The year 2023 I graduated high school and I will be moving into my college this summer. It is a dance college called The Juilliard School located in New York. Four years later I will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree and I am soon moving to L.A to try to find a studio for a dance company I’m gonna start and do every summer. Three days after I graduate I fly to L.A to finally start to look for my studio and I safely arrive. I have 5 places located. I’m seeing 2 today and 3 tomorrow. So I go to my first dance studio and it’s very small, old looking, and raggedy and I know that I’m gonna probably have a lot of students. I’m gonna have babies, kiddies, teenagers, and Seniors Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday and babies and kiddies from 9:30-12:15 and teenagers and Seniors from 12:15-5:45 And I at least wanna have 25 to 30 students in each class. So I go to look at the 2nd studio and it’s ok but it only has one little mirror and no office because I need an office and it has no bathroom. The next day comes and I’m going to see my third dance studio today. I arrive and it has everything I need but my office is too small. I won’t be able to put a desk or anything else in it and I also need a costume room to keep all the dance costumes and props. So I make it to the 4th dance studio. It’s perfect because there are mirrors going around the studio and built in beam bars on the wall and it has a perfect office and there’s an upstairs with a boys and girls bathroom. Also, a nice loft where parents can sit and watch and another big room where I can put all my props and costumes. I leave that dance studio happy and excited and I felt like that was the one. So I get to the 5th dance studio and its bad. The paint on the wall is chipping and the wood is dusty and not matching and it’s just a no. So I go back to dance studio 4 to apply for it and later I go back to my hotel room and pack up and hurry up to catch my flight back to Boston. I get to Boston after a 5hr and 35-minute plane ride. So a week after I get back home I get an email that says I got the dance studio. I screamed with joy and ran and told my mom and she was happy for me and I told all my family and they were all happy and excited for me. I go home later that night from my family’s house and I start thinking about a house. I started looking and the prices were a little pricey but it would take time. 1 year later I finally found a beautiful, big L.A condo with glass chandeliers and marble floors and everything’s furnished blue and white and white marble floors and it’s beautiful! Me and my kids move in. Their mom is never there to be home cause she
2 YEARS LATER One day, I wake up from the best dream ever to see the most perfect view. I see the sun rising and it’s a little light outside. It’s 8 AM. I see a lot of fancy buildings. My kids run in the room and jump on the bed. I get up, put my robe on, and go into the kitchen. I make pancakes for my kids and I smell the sweet chocolate chip batter as I’m making the first pancake. I see my kids go walk over to watch tv in the clean, bright, good-smelling bright yellow living room from the sun rising. They sit down on the couch and turn on the tv, and Spongebob pops up on the screen and they both bust out laughing. I get them ready for dance class. I get myself ready by putting on some sweatpants and a t-shirt. We leave through the garage and get into my 2018 Porsche Macan. It smells so fresh and clean. We drive 10 minutes away into the suburban area of LA. I grab my key and unlock my studio doors. I thank myself everyday for having this studio and company cause if I didn’t I wouldn’t really be able to have the life I do now or provide for my kids the way I am now. It smells like wood and waxed floors. Me and my kids start setting up the room for class. Soon as we finish it’s about 9:39 and my students start to walk in. I have all the babies and kiddies including my kids stretch their legs while I play music. I have all the babies and kiddies put their leg up on the beam bar to stretch and look in the mirror. Then I get a call that my flight to Punta Cana is leaving in 3 hours and I’m not ready. I have my sister take over my class and me and my kids zoom out the door and leave my students in confusion. We fly to Target to get everything we need for the trip. We drive back to my house and start to pack. Then we head out the door and our flight leaves in 1hr and 30 minutes and the airport is 35 minutes away from my apartment. We make it to the ticket counter and me and my son hand over our tickets but my daughter lost her ticket. We start checking everywhere and the flight attendant says “you only have 30 minutes to find the tickets because we’re boarding early.” We look around and find the ticket.
Mr. Davis’ Class We board the plane and my kids’ mom texts me to see where we’re at. I tell her we’re just boarding. The plane takes off and our ears pop. Three hours later I wake up from a nap because of turbulence while we land. My partner rents a car and picks us up. I get in the car and say, “We just had the craziest flight ever,” and she says, “What happened?” My daughter said, “I lost my ticket but we found it,” and she says, “really?” We drive to our Spongebob resort and our pineapple hotel and my kids go crazy. We end our day with the water park and a nice dinner out to eat.
15 Years of Me
A Poem by Kendall It’s been 15 years now it’s 2032 Last time I checked I was in 8th grade I’m a high school graduate from Boston Prep Which should let everyone know I’m all set I have graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Yale University I’m very successful nothing in this world can stop me It’s been 15 years now I’m an elementary teacher I’m making bands, bands, bands, yes that’s a check talking Everyone will say “I want to be her” I will have a happy family 2 daughters 1 son and a husband I will be the topic of all the conversations So much good talk I will not hear what anyone is saying 15 years ago, in the 8th grade, I was a student at the Trotter school Doing great, getting ready to graduate Making plans for the summertime texting all my friends “Like, What’s Up Slime”
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Essays from The Trotter
One present I wouldn’t mind getting is a piece of emerald jewelry. Emerald is my birthstone and I like jewelry so the two together would be something I would like and wear ALL the time. This is why I believe May is the best month, I hope you agree. If not, whatever. I have to go get started on my Spring cleaning, talk to you later.
For me, it’s all about May By Nyliah
May is the best month of the year. You might think another month is the best, but there are lots of reasons why I believe May is the best month. May has the best weather because there is a mix of hot and cool days. It’s not too hot, or too cold. Once we get to May it means we survived the Winter and got through April showers. Finally, the May flowers are striking back from the ground. Since it’s lighter later, we have more time to spend with friends and be outside. There are many holidays in the month of May like, May Day. May Day is the first day of May and it’s a day celebrating Springtime. Mother’s Day, a day to honor mothers everywhere because they do so much for us and we wouldn’t be here without them. Something special about all of these holidays is, they all start with the letter “M”. “M” is a great letter. It is the first letter in the word “Money” and I like money. Another reason why I like the month of May is that it’s my birthday! On my birthday I get presents. I prefer money instead of actual presents because I would like to get my own things. I am very picky and stubborn, so by getting my own things I don’t hurt anyone’s feelings by not using the thing they bought for me.
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In 15 Years... By Tiago
In 15 years I will be living in my own house with my family. I would be starting to buy another house, and before I go any further I got there by working hard. I went to Madison Park and it was the best time of my life. I learned a lot there. After high school, me and my family moved to LA and then I started my company with my brother. It’s an electric company named Stormz. The house I own is located in LA, and now I’m working on buying a house in Boston (my hometown) and also expanding my company to Boston. Now I am going to college for producing music and I’m doing this because I have been wanting to do this since I was a kid.
Mr. Davis’ Class
“15 Años Despues” A Poem by Yerinelis
It was the hardship That got me where I am It was the struggle Hard work, lack of money, resources There was no friends There’s only family and smart choices Involved but not nerdy Getting good grades was more important It’s no longer a hardship That’s how I stayed where I am It was the struggle that got me here I worked hard for everything I got I still got no friends I don’t have time for fake people Unsocialized but got people worrying Getting good money was always the goal
Why Does My Mom Inspire Me? By Olivia
It started off on my 6th birthday. I didn’t know where we were going, until my mom told me we were going to meet her foster mom. At the time I didn’t know what foster care meant. She didn’t explain it to me at that moment, so I thought it was her real mom. My mom was pregnant with my little brother. When we pulled up I was scared because they all looked mean. My mom introduced us because I already met them but I was too young to remember. After starting a conversation it turns out my mom’s mom was really nice. Everyone in the house was really nice and asked a lot of questions. I didn’t know who they are. They asked us if we were hungry. Her and my mom were talking for a long amount of time. She gave me my birthday present and it was a Barbie so I was playing with it. I’ve never seen my mom so happy. While we were eating we talked about the sports I played. A lot of the other people played basketball too in the room.
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Essays from The Trotter They looked like teenagers. After we ate we watched a movie in the living room together. I had never watched a movie with a bunch of people before like that. My mom still looked really happy. I knew her foster sister because she used to do my hair. We were there from afternoon until late at night. Afterwards, we were sitting in her room watching a movie about a boy who is adopted into a family. I asked my mom what does foster mean. She said it’s basically a home when you don’t live with your parents, so you have new parents. She didn’t tell me her full story until I was about 9 because the movies didn’t seem like it sounded. She told me then that it’s a home if your parents can’t take care of you then they’ll get you a foster parent and you would live with them. She said she’s been to a lot of bad homes that she ran away from. She said she found her mom and it was the best foster home she’d been in. They took her in even though she had problems in school with grades and behavior. Afterwards, I liked her foster mom a lot more. I really thought it was her real mom. I got it more now and liked her more because my mom liked them and hearing all the stuff my mom went through. I didn’t know my mom’s dad was dead until she told me that and that her mom lived in Florida. She used to call us but would always be drunk. Mom was already in medical school when she was pregnant and got an award for becoming a medical assistant. She was pregnant and going to school and I was proud of her. She’s a single mom, going to work, and still keeping up with a mom life. She took a break of nursing school after she had my brother, but she did online classes when he was 1 years old. Once he was in daycare, she went back to school. She still had a job full time. She went to work and school. Then she got another job because the baby was expensive, and my sports were expensive. She had 2 jobs and went to school, so was barely home. But I would go to my mom’s foster home house or foster sister’s house. We got
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closer and closer. When I was 12, my mom became a nurse. She said it takes a long time to become a nurse. My brother was 5. I was more proud because she’s always wanted to be a nurse. When she was a medical assistant, she said I can’t wait to become a nurse and help people. This was inspiring because she did all of this without anybody helping. She took care of us without anyone helping. My brother’s father lives in Boston. Also my mom’s grandparents were sick so she was taking care of them too. Her foster sister died, and I was sad because I knew her now. I was closer with her and was sad. We moved from the area they lived in so I haven’t seen my mom’s foster family in a long time. I was 12 the last time I seen them and I’m now 14. It also feels like I haven’t seen close family members in a while because they were like family. My mom still keeps in touch with her mom through Facebook and her mom can see how me and my brother are doing. My mom is still doing well as a nurse. She seems really happy about being a nurse, and talks about how she really likes her job. My mom inspired me to want to do medical classes in high school. This is why my mom inspires me.
Winter Hill Community School Mr. Rodriguez’ Class
To My Wildcats, It has been an absolute pleasure being your teacher this year. It’s amazing seeing how much you all have grown since August. You are all such strong writers and I am excited that you have been given a platform in which you can show off your amazing writing skills. You have all showed me that with hard work and dedication you can reach any goal you set your mind to. Looking back, I remember how nervous you all were when I mentioned that your essays will be published in a magazine. You were all so scared and didn’t want to write at all! But after a pep talk, you all were ready to start working on your essays. Through this journey, I have learned so much from each of you. I learned the type of future you see for yourselves, whether that be a doctor, soccer player, nurse, or mechanic. I got to see what your interest are. I also got to see the people who inspire you and why they have made such an impact on your life. Through your essays, I was also able to see the beliefs that some of you have and how that has impacted your everyday lives. So once again I just want to thank you all for being such amazing students and never letting anyone hold you back. YOU’RE ALL AMAZING!! I want to wish you all the very best in high school and all the years beyond!! Mr. Rodriguez
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Essays from Winter Hill First of all, I will go to Somerville High School. There I will have good grades, meaning A-, A, and A+.
15 Years Later... By Dayerli
I think that everyone in this world has thought about their life in the future. How it might look and also you have plans for it to get to this place. I have also thought about my life in the future. When I’m old enough to do the things I really wanna do. I have a perfect future in my mind that even though I know that I would have to do a lot of things to get to this place, I wanna get there. In this short essay I wanna tell you some things that I have in mind for my future life. In 15 years I’m going to be very successful and by this I mean have everything that I dreamed of. I’ll be working with children and I’m going to be my own boss. I’ll also be graduated from Harvard University. I’ll have a lot of friends but Vanesa will be my only real friend. By real I mean my number #1 friend. I will have a lot of family members but my mom, my children, my sisters, and my husband will be the only ones that I will consider my real family. My favorite hobby will still be soccer and I know this for fact because I love soccer and I always will. I know that to get to this place I’m gonna have to give an extra mile but I’m fine with it because I know that it would be for something that I really want.
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Also will be part of the soccer team so then they can help me a little more with my scholarship. I will past my MCAS and be graduated with my diploma. I will be accepted into Harvard University with a scholarship and I will do my best throughout the years in the university. Then I’ll be graduated from Harvard University. With Vanesa I know by heart that she will be my #1 friend and even if bad things come through our friendship we’ll still be together because that’s what real friends are. Also, throughout the years I will meet the love of my life and I will marry him and have 3 beautiful children that will become my family with my mom and my sisters. I will live in a mansion where it will smell good at all times, music everywhere and of every kind while my family and I are laughing, everything will feel clean at all times, and the looks can’t tell everything in words. Inside it would have this beautiful living room with a lot of space and a big T.V and also a big kitchen with everything that you can imagine. The rooms will be very big and beautiful. There will be some rooms for everyone in the family, people who come to visit, and for games. Outside it would have this playground for my children to play with and a beautiful garden. This mansion will also have a pool outside and inside. I will tell you about a specific day in my future life. Well, one day I’ll be with my family, my best friend and her family. We are going to go to Guatemala in the summer break. We’ll wake up early in the morning and get ready to go to the airplane. While we are waiting we are going to be all laughing and having much fun together. When it’s finally time for us to go we’ll wrap our stuff and get in the airplane. We’ll arrive in Guatemala and the first thing we do is go to a hotel and leave our stuff. Then we are going to go eat, it will be around 10:00 a.m so we’ll have a lot of time to spend in that first day. Right when we are done eating we’ll go to visit some parks so then our children can have some fun.
Mr. Rodriguez’ Class When they get bored we are going to go to the movies because our children will love movies. When we are done with this it will be around 5:00 p.m and we will be kind of tired so we’ll go have some rest in the hotel’s pool. We will stay there until it’s time for some dinner. We’ll go have some dinner in a nice place and will have a lot of fun there. Finally, we’ll return to the hotel and will sleep until the next day comes and will have more fun than the day before. These are some things that I have in mind for my future that I will try my best to accomplish. I know that it sounds a little too much but I know that if I give an extra mile I can get there. I know that everyone in the world that has thoughts about their future life can get there if they give a little more of what they can.
My Inspiration By Jaslene
Almost everyone has someone that inspires them in their life. Because of the way this man carried himself and used his platform as a voice, most teen’s source of inspiration may come from the rapper Xxxtentacion. Even though the rapper has passed he still has a big place in my heart and plays a huge role in my artistic choices.
I know he watches over his fans and is in a better place now. X was a handsome young man and would’ve turned 21 this year on January 23. He lived in Florida which is where I’m from. I’ve never met him in person but I would’ve done anything to get a chance to do that. His music helps me deal with emotional things every now and then and the occasional hype moments. I discovered X’s music when my mom was having many financial problems. It was a rough time for us. I would be very angry or sad from time to time and when someone introduced his music to me, the first time I played one of his songs it was like he made this just for me. I believe it was “Jocelyn Flores”. I had just come home from a long day of school and I was very annoyed because I wasn’t able to go out with my friends. All the money I had to go out with them had to be put on my bus card or I was gonna have to walk home which would break my legs. I walked in and my mom was complaining to my sibling how the gas bill was high and the light bill was even higher. I felt really bad because my mom is a single mother and she has to pay for everything and take care of 3 kids. I’m really amazed by how my mom never breaks down or lets us see her cry. But still, I hated my life. I wish I could be like the kids on Disney who have it all and could go home without worrying what they’re gonna eat an being able to have million different outfits and gadgets. One of my close friends sent me a link to X’s album “17” knowing how much I love music. I clicked on it and listened to the whole thing! I loved all the songs but “Jocelyn Flores” was something different. It was so nostalgic and melodic it really spoke to me and made me see that everyone goes through pain--some harder than others--and that there is a bright side to everything; we must push through and persevere. Reading through this you may be thinking to yourself, “Wow he did so much for her but what does he inspire her to do?” Well, he inspires me to be myself and if I’m hurting to let people who want to help me do that so I’m not living miserably. Also to forget about the haters
Essays from Winter Hill because at the end of the day we don’t have forever and we shouldn’t live life miserably. In the words of the wonderful Jahseh Ricardo Onfroy (XXXTENTACION) “I advise you to not hide your feelings. Don’t pretend to be okay when you’re not okay. Don’t pretend to be happy when you’re sad. It’ll only lead to your misery.” It’s a shame such a beautiful soul was taken away from us over some petty money that some thieves wanted, but while he was here he spread so much positivity you would think he was a lawn sprinkler! He inspires so many other kids to do so much and how negative energy--like people hating on social media or bullying--will always be there to stop you but we’re always gonna preserve and strive. Jahseh said, and I quote, “Some people just don’t deserve you. They aren’t ready for your level of loyalty or love. You have to remember that not everyone was raised like you. Not everyone has a pure heart or good intentions like you. And not everyone has your best interest and wants to see you succeed.”
Messi is a soccer lover, but he wasn’t growing the way he was supposed to, so that leads us to a problem. Messi’s coach wouldn’t let him play because of his size. He could play but he needed to buy really expensive equipment that he and his family couldn’t afford. His coach saw he played pretty good so he decided to help him with what could be afforded. He also inspires me on soccer moves that I could learn and also get more experience in life. He lets me know what good moments I can have while playing in a team like Barcelona. In conclusion, Lionel Andres Messi inspires me to work and do what I have to do, never give up, look for new opportunities.
My Inspiration By Juan
My Inspiration By Jose
Who inspires me is Lionel Andres Messi. Messi is 31 years old and was born in June 1987. He is a professional soccer player. His children’s names are Thiago Messi, Mateo Messi Roccuzzo, Ciro Messi Roccuzzo.
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My inspiration is my mother, Evelyn. She is 32 years old. She has black hair, brown eyes and she is shorter than me. She is so nice and always trying to helping everyone. My mother is my inspiration because she is a very hard worker. She works at a taco shop and works for long hours. She always helps her co-workers with anything they need. My mother is a hard worker but she finds times to have a good time. She always is talking with her friends at work and then when she gets home she tells us all the experiences that she had. Why she inspires me is that she is a hard worker who cares about other people around her. She never gives up no matter the challenge that is put in front of her. When I grow up I hope to be just like her.
Mr. Rodriguez’ Class
Mom: My Inspiration
15 Years Later...
The majority of people in the world has a human being that inspires them in their life. But not many teens source of inspiration is their mother. Most teenagers want independence and not want to rely on anyone. However, my case is completely different. My inspiration is my beautiful Haitian mother. She inspires me in so many ways.
15 years from now will be 2034. I will be a police officer. I graduated high school and went to Harvard University for college and majored in Criminal Justice. After college, I went on to pursue a career as a police officer. I became a police officer because I want to help people and keep my community of Somerville safe. 15 years later, I am close to family. My mother, father, and my girlfriend are very important to me. I want to live somewhere that is not very noisy and where there is no pollution. I also want to live in a community that doesn’t have a high crime rate. In the future, I will be driving a green Lamborghini Pura and will have doors that open up and go to the roof. My home will be very fancy and have a pool. I want to live close to the beach, where I will take my fancy boat. In the future, I will be living a very happy life.
By Marie
She is a single mother, taking care of two daughters of her own. A very brave person, she will do anything for her family. Caring, thoughtful, generous, kind, is who she is. Growing up I always wanted to be like her because she can do so many amazing things on her own without depending on other people for help. To me, I find that absolutely incredible. My mother has always told me that the most important thing in life is to believe in yourself at all times. I love my mom, no matter what situation we go through and the amount we argue with each other. I know in the end, she’ll always be there for me every step of my life.
By Philemon
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Essays from Winter Hill
15 Years Later…….. By Shreeya
15 years in the future can be a long time and everything I wrote could probably never happen. There will be a lot of accomplishments and struggles in 15 years of my life. Right now I’m thirteen and in fifteen years I could be 28 years old or dead. Death is inevitable but predicting the future is the most I can do to know what my future holds. In fifteen years, I could be a nurse and have finished my master’s degree but maybe I could be homeless for all I know. Let’s start at the beginning. 4 years in the future... These four years in my life are going to be very important to me. These years are where I will grow into a young adult and become a lot more mature. These years are the start of my career where I will choose my career for final and maybe never look back. I could join track for a few years and enjoy it or maybe regret it and even never join track. In these years I want to be able to work hard an graduate with a GPA of at least 3.0 but that just depends on the future me. These four years will be where my memories are made and where I develop as a person. 6 years in the future... College is where I, as a person, learn about the career I want to do in my life. College is usually very hard, and some drop out while some graduate with a degree. These are the years when I’ll be independent, at least a lot more than before. I want to be able to get a bachelors and masters degree in nursing. Nursing is a career which might actually help you have a health risk or when you’re sick and along with it helping yourself, nursing means helping other people and maybe saving a life. I know being a nurse is hard but I believe it is worth it to be able to make the sick cured and happy. I want to be able to go to Tufts University since it’s diverse and has a lot of opportunity for everyone. I’ve been ambitious to go to Tufts ever since I went on a tour of Tufts, it was a type of perfect university for me. But again, since Tufts has an acceptance rate of 16%, that may never happen... 15 years in the future… These years are the years when I become the most independent. At those years if I’m lucky to not drown in student loans, I want to be able to live in an apartment in Cambridge, but only for the few years until I get a visa to live in Nepal. Of course, that might never happen but again, this is all about prediction.
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In those years I want to be able to work in the Cambridge hospital until I get an immigration visa. After getting it, I want to be able to go live in Nepal with my grandparents or maybe alone. Along with that, I want to be able to go travel the world, but that just depends on what job I have and how much I earn.
Mr. Rodriguez’ Class
This is the way I want to be living in Cambridge (until I get the visa) and this is how I imagine it to be… I’ve been an early bird for most of the time that I remember since I’ve been alive and I plan to hopefully be the same in the future. I want to be a nurse who works the day and goes home during the night. I want to be able to wake up at five and get ready for work before 6:00 am. Then between six and five am I want to be able to drive or walk or bike to work but of course, if this ever happens, it depends on the situation. Then I want to be able to work, to take care of the sick, assist them, and do everything else a nurse is supposed to do such as check a patient’s blood pressure, blood sugar, etc. anything that requires immediate attention. Afterward, I might have lunch then work again until I’m done with my shift and I can pass the information of patients to other night shift nurses. I want to be able to go home then, relax, exercise and take care of my needs. Everything I have written about the future might never happen, but I believe that believing it will happen and doing the best to achieve it will actually achieve what you want to be able to do in the future. It’s good to keep a person ambitious about their dreams so, keep dreaming and working.
15 Years Later... By Vanesa
My future would look very weird. And I would be very successful. My career would be a pediatrician. I would have accomplished my high school years and my college years. I would only have Dayerli as my friend because everyone else is very fake. My hobby is soccer. I like to play soccer. I’ve played soccer for two years now. I enjoy having fun with my friends and my family. In my family, I would like to have my future boyfriend. By 15 years I would like to see myself done with college and begin my life as a pediatrician. First of all, I would be done with the 8th grade and going on with high school. High school may be rough (I think, that’s what they always say) but I will get through it. After high school, I would like to go to a really good college and study something that I would really like to do such as working with kids. By then I would love to have a house. Most kids my age would dream to have a really huge house and be rich. But I know what to expect. I would imagine myself in a house that is not small but not huge. A medium household. With my future boyfriend or husband or even better alone. That is where I would see myself.
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Essays from Winter Hill
This I Believe‌ By Verondy
I believe that I could reach my goals and reach my dream career. I want to be a successful person, I want to excel in school and after high school, I would like to attend Boston University. I believe being successful can help not only me but also my family. Family is one of my biggest support systems and with them always supporting me, I feel I can accomplish anything in life. I believe with hard work and dedication and the right support system anything is possible.
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Young Achievers K-8 School Partnered wtih:
Ms. Baez’ Class One of the most important statements I heard this year at YA was “you can’t give back to a place you didn’t come from”. As you all know, I went to a school that was just like YA in Boston Public Schools. It was literally, y’all, 11 years ago. I feel honored to have been given the opportunity to learn and grow WITH you all this year. I have watched you all push yourselves to complete tasks you did not care about, with the goal of being successful. I have seen you all motivate each other to do the right thing and stay on task. I hope you take those lessons with you as you move on to the next phase in your life. This year, it has been a journey working with you all and I care about each and every one of you. Not just because I’m your teacher. Not just because each of you has endless potential. Not just because I see a piece of myself in each of you. And not just because y’all are a pain in my neck; but a combination of all of those reasons and more that I won’t have enough space to list. If you don’t leave here with anything else, I want you to know that a leader exists in every one of you. As you grow older the details of your time in middle school will fade but the lessons you have learned you should take with you for the rest of your life. Life is hard, it is especially hard for people who look like us and come from where we come from. The hurdles you will have to jump over will only make you stronger. In each one of you, I have seen the strength and courage it will take to be successful, you just have to continue to strive and work hard for it. You are deserving of all of the good things this world has to offer.
Don’t ever let anyone hold you back but most importantly don’t hold yourself back.
Congratulations Class of 2019 Ms. Baez
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Essays from Young Achievers
go shopping, go out with my best friend Denise and spend valuable time with my child. I will call my mom every week to check up on her. I hope I can buy my mom a house because she took care of me all my life and made sure I had the things that I needed so buying her a house I know she’ll love. Both of my siblings will be out of college. I want to be close with them as we get older because they are my little brothers and I love them.
In 15 Years By Timya
In fifteen years, I see myself at the age of 28 in my last year of medical school at Howard University in Washington, DC, overcoming the toughest years of school in my life. My accomplishments will be getting through college and medical school all in 8 years. My career as an OB/GYN doctor will be starting, Doctor Blake. I will be birthing babies, giving women advice and information about their body which is why I want to be a doctor. Becoming an OB/GYN means that in the future I will be an patient person and the doctor that everyone wants to see. I want to know all about the reproductive system and help women through the process of giving birth to beautiful babies. After I finish school, I will move to Texas with my family. I will be living in my house that smells like lavender and has guest rooms for when other family members and my friends visit. My child, my boyfriend and my best friend, Denise, will live with me. I will wake up every morning to get ready for my day at work and drop of my child off at school with my 2030 Jeep Cherokee. My favorite hobby will be blasting music every chance I get because I love music. Music makes me get my mind off things that I don’t want to worry about. When I have free time, I will
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I want to have perseverance and patience. Both of those will be important to be successful at my job. A change I see for myself is being more independent and more organized. These qualities are important when I become an adult.
Who Inspires Me By Michael
My Inspiration is Kyrie Irving ,He is age 26 years old and his birthday is on march 23rd, He is 6 feet, 3 inches, which to most people is tall but in the NBA he is very small to his teammates and opponents, He was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1992, Since 2011 he has been a professinal athlete in the National Basketball Association (NBA, He started his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers as a Point guard, He is now a point guard for the Boston Celtics, In 20112012 he won rookie of the year, He is my favorite basketball player. He Influences me took strive to be the greatest and make it into the NBA.
Ms. Baez’ Class
My Future By Scarlet
The year is 2034, and I am a therapist. I became a therapist by getting my masters in psychology. I’ve always known I wanted to be a therapist because I enjoy listening to other people’s problems and figuring out a way to help them. I think therapy is important for those who may have problems dealing with grief or any problems that they feel like they need to talk to someone about. First I became a relationship and family therapist. I wanted my own therapy clinic, so to start I became a partner in a clinic so that I could get some experience. After being a partner at a clinic for 2 years, I got my own clinic. This process was important so that I could get enough experience that I needed to start my own path. Are you wondering how I reached these goals? In high school I made the choice of volunteering in a women’s shelter to be able to connect with more people. I decided to do a women’s shelter because I felt like that would make me feel more connected to other older women in these situations. Also on my weekends instead of chilling at home I decided to shadow therapists and psychologists so that way I could be sure of what a therapist would do on a daily basis. This has also helped me by being able to get my experience in and gain more knowledge on my career. Although the friends that I had in high school weren’t there for my career moves, I still had my family and two of my best friends. I still have my parties now and then, and still travel. My friends motivated me to do what I needed to do with my education, but also know when to have fun. For me I see myself as a person who is kind of funny although some may not think so. I am passionate about my goals in life, and I am very helpful when I can be. I value my family, friends, my career, and having fun when appropriate. A day in my life is I wake up, I eat breakfast, and I get to work at 10 o’clock. I help some patients, and then I head out for lunch with my coworkers and go feed my dogs. I then come back to work and work with some more patients. Then I head home and rest. My home is amazing. I live in Boston where I went to high school in. I made this choice because this way I would feel more familiar. I also I live with my two dogs. I live in a house that has 4 bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. I also have a backyard in which I sometimes have cookouts with my family and bestfriends. I am currently driving a cadillac SUV. Although it’s not much but its something and I am happy with it. I feel like my job is the best thing for me. I’ve made the choice of following my dreams. I have worked hard to get to where I am, and I feel very proud of myself for my accomplishments.
Essays from Young Achievers
My Inspirations By Eleon
My inspirations are Kyrie Irving and Kobe Bryant. They both play in the sport that I love, basketball, and inspire me because they have a job they love to do and I want to be like them. Irving is age 26 years old and his birthday is on March 23. He is 6 feet 3 inches tall, which to most people is tall but in the NBA he is very small compared to his teammates and opponents. He was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1992. In 2011, Kyrie began his career, as the first overall pick in the first round for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Since 2011 he has been a professional athlete in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He started his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers as a Point Guard. He is now a Point Guard for the Boston Celtics. In 2011-2012 he won rookie of the year and in 2014 he won the USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year. Irving is one of the best ball handlers in the NBA. He is my favorite player and my inspiration because of his dribble moves. Kobe Bryant also inspires me because he shows that when things are difficult in life, it’s a chance for you to do or become better. Bryant was born on August 23, 1978 and is 40 years old. He retired in 2016 after 20 years for the LA
Lakers. He is one of the best NBA players in history and has won lots of awards. In addition, what made him inspire me was what he said, “Everything negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise….I’ll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it’s sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot. There’s been a lot of talk of me being a one-man show but that’s simply not the case. We win games when I score 40 points and we’ve won when I score 10.” This quote from Kobe means everything is an opportunity to him even if it’s good or bad. This quote is important to me because he didn’t want to be Jordan or better he just wanted to be his best self. This is how I want to live my life like Kobe and Kyrie. I also, like this quote because he needed his whole team to win and he couldn’t do everything by himself. In addition, he is very modest which makes him a good person and player overall. In conclusion, my inspirations are Kyrie Irving and Kobe Bryant because they are great basketball players and really humble. They are lucky because not everyone can get into the NBA like them but they worked hard to get where they are because at college you have to impress the scouts to get drafted.
15 Years In The Future By Mikayla
In fifteen years I will be living in Atlanta, being a dance choreographer who goes to Spel49 | Bridging Magazine 18th Edition
man College. Before 15 years even happened, after high school (which was English High School), I had a job and I would work after school and when I ended high school. When high school was over I had a bank account already open and I would save up money and put it in the bank and not touch the money, I wanted to have a better life and start fresh. I live in Atlanta, Georgia where I feel sticky, I see flowers and people rushing to their destination, I taste their amazing food, I hear birds chirping and people talking to one another, I smell fresh air and fast food restaurants. One day I woke up ready for my first day of college I had my clothes laid out the night before. I went to Dunkin’ Donuts and had a fresh cup of coffee. The bad part of the day was I went to school a couple minutes late but since it was the first day the professor let it pass knowing that I was new. I went to my first class which was dance. I already knew two people out here because I met them when I first moved to Atlanta. I accomplished passing all my classes and reaching my goal. I’m still working on being a good choreographer and teaching kids and adults how to learn any type of dance.
Ms. Baez’ Class University doing the mechanical engineer program. I’m going to start making designs for the car dealers like Ferrari and Tesla by making factories at different countries. I will also be moving to DR to spend time with my family and my friends. Also in 15 years I will have a huge house with super cars outside in the mountains near the beach. I will also be traveling to different places around the world every 2 months with my family. We will explore what else is out there and also look at places we never imagined, like Panama and Tokyo, and spend months there to learn how other people live around the world. I’m going to go with my sister, my mother and father, and my funny and intelligent wife and kids. When I get to these places I’m first going to donate money to the poor and then start going to street races because I want to see how other cars are designed. I’m also going to race other famous racers from there and beat everybody and give them a hand shake and get about ten thousand dollars every day. Then I’ll donate the money to the poor again hoping the cops can’t arrest me and race again after they give me a warning for racing.
There were a lot of people involved in my life but there were only three who were there for me the most. My cousin Nhala who visits me once in awhile. Nhala is amazing, intelligent and a wonderful person to hang out with. She’s pregnant with her second kid now. She’s very helpful and loves to learn new things.
In 15 Years By Jenssy
In 15 years I’ll be in Dominican Republic making millions off of designing cars for every car dealership in the world. I will also be helping the poor from my country. But it wasn’t going to be easy. I am going to have to go through high school and college and spend 4 years in Boston
In 15 Years By Julio
In 15 years im going to be 30 years old. By 30 I’m going to be living in New York, working
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Essays from Young Achievers for a shoe company. I’m going to have no kids, no wife. New York has way more opportunities, better stores, beautiful sites to see. When I’m 30 I’m going to have big brands on my body. I will have a car, and will probably be living in a luxury hotel.
two girls. My family will still include my mom, dad, four sisters, my stepdad, and my extended family. I plan to continue to hang out with my friends and we will still go to the movies and make dinner together. I will still watch basketball and go to Celtics games when I am visiting Boston.
15 Years in the Future By Faybia
In 15 years, I hope that my life is exactly the way I picture it when I think of it today. I hope to live somewhere warm - maybe Texas. My future house will be five bedrooms with large bathrooms with a big kitchen because I love to cook. My favorite meal to cook is chicken and rice. I see myself going to college because I aspire to be the first first person out of all my siblings to go to college. I want to become a nurse because I like helping people and nursing will enable me to do that. Once I graduate college, I will need to go to nursing school. After I graduate, I will get a job, potentially at a doctor’s office and then work my way up to a hospital. My dream is to be a nurse at a children’s hospital. One of the reasons why I want to be a nurse is because I want to be able to provide for my family. I plan to have four kids - two boys and
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What I Believe By Johnnie
My name is Johnnie Graves and I believe that I can make it to the NBA. Basketball is my favorite sport and it keeps my body energized and in shape. This means working out and exercising to keep my health in good condition. An experience that makes me think of this belief is when I played on my school basketball team and scored 24 points in one game. I was able to do this by practicing for a basketball game: shooting and working on different moves. I am excited by winning my basketball games and getting some points for my team, but I still practice harder and am prepared for the future ahead of me. While playing basketball, I am going to need teamwork and I will have to communicate with my teammates in order to win. This experience informs my belief because as I work harder and hader while playing basketball, it makes me think that there could be a chance of me making it to the NBA. You have to follow your dreams, and if you are having trouble doing something, practice and practice and
Ms. Baez’ Class
you will get better. Practice takes place at my school and at my house. It feels good because I feel I am improving and getting better on new moves. Basketball smells good because I think of myself working harder everyday and how I’m going to be good in the future. I can see myself in the future doing big things such as doing good in school and playing basketball for a great team. My basketball coach talks to me and teaches me new things and shows me the things I need to work on. The basketball-related conversation takes place at my school inside of the gym. My team and coaches give me examples and show me things that I need to improve on or something that I am doing right. My coach demonstrates new plays for me and for the team. The reason why I love basketball so much and why I want it to be in my future career is because I think that basketball is a great sport to me and it keeps my body motivated. A lot of my family members played basketball when they were younger and they inspired me to play basketball and work hard on something that I really really want to do in life. Basketball will help improve my character by showing me the importance of having respect towards everyone and being a supportive teammate. Basketball means to give it a shot and try to work to your best ability.
Future in my Hands By Jessley
I open one eye and smell burnt pancakes and close my one eye again. I thought I had checked my clock and it was still early but glanced a second time and I was 10 minutes late to work with patients waiting for me. As I get ready for the day I hear my husband saying “fire, fire”, so I rush to put my clothes on but then my shirt felt tight as though it was choking me. When I look at myself in the mirror I noticed my scrubs are on inside out. I run past my husband and look back and there’s only a little smoke from the hot pan but all of his pancakes are burnt like hockey pucks. I say goodbye to my kids, husband, and my shih tzu named Layla. My life has been a circus since moving to Hawaii. I love the beach but I can never go peacefully. All I see all day are nurses rushing around like wildebeest getting chased by lions. My job is crazy, but it’s my passion. My life is busy, but that’s the way I like it. Everyday I feel like a hero. Today I entered an open heart surgery and saved a child with a life-threatening birth defect. Around lunch I can’t even think because I’m traumatized over a patient dying. Fortunately, my friend Ashley from China came and cheered me up with espresso coffee. When I was in college, I wasn’t expecting my future self to be this stressed but thankfully
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Essays from Young Achievers I am ready for it. My timing still hasn’t changed since middle school, but I’m working on it. After lunch I look at some blood work from my patients and it is all good news. The best part of my day is coming home. As I open the door, all I hear is yelling. My son Leevon has my daughter Genesis in a headlock and all I do is walk by them and shake my head, look at my husband, and point. I finally have some me time. I go on Instagram and catch up with my social life, and all I see are people doing crazy things because that is what the world has come to. I go to sleep. Tomorrow -- another day, another dollar. I am successful now, but I will never forget how hard I had to work to get where I am today. I went to BCLA for highschool and in those first years, I decided I wanted to be a doctor. My passion is saving people’s lives and making them feel better. As a doctor, I want to make sure that by the time my patient leaves they know that everything is going to be okay. To achieve my dream, I went to Tufts University School of Medicine to become a doctor and see first hand what direction my career was going to take. I took exams, spent all my money on books, and had an internship as a surgeon’s assistant. At this school, I surrounded myself with Positive, Independent, Hardworking people that helped me grow and vice versa. Four years of college paid off. All the hard work and studying has helped me become that best doctor I can be: Dr. Rodriguez (I don’t know what placement I want yet). My life changed again and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I gained a strong and constant affection for a person that I plan to live the rest of my life with, Geo Garcia. Geo and I brought beautiful humans to this earth; a girl and a boy named Genesis and Leevon Rodriguez. Oh, and I can’t forget my dog Layla! They made me realize that it’s not only me that I have to work for and that there’s more responsibility that comes with life. My kids made me work harder so they are able to know how to make money and stay
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positive through whatever . Boston opened my eyes to work for whatever I wanted because not everything is easy to get. Even with me not living in the best neighborhood I still stay positive because I know I will make it.
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Essays from Young Achievers
Mr. Albers’ Class
Dear Young Achievers, Malala Yousefzai, international education activist and the youngest Nobel laureate ever, once quipped, “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” Yousefzai’s words couldn’t be truer, and they apply to you all. If I could leave you with one idea, one message that will stick with you, it would be that your pen, your voice, your words hold immense power. I’ve enjoyed the tremendous pleasure of watching you grow as writers, as students, as people. My heart swells with pride and drips with admiration when I cogitate on the talent and work ethic that abound in your 8th-grade class. It’s a rare find, a group as driven and aspirational as yours. Thank you for affording me the opportunity to work with such an incredible 8th-grade class.
Never stop grinding. Never stop getting better every day. Never stop achieving.
Good luck and stay in touch.
-Mr. A.
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Mr. Albers’ Class games and got Spider-Man toys. His Marvel movies have changed me into who I am today because I would also like to help others and do the right thing (like the superheroes in the movies). Now that I am older, I have more knowledge about Stan and what he wanted to accomplish when he wrote his comics and made his movies. I have realized there are themes in his works that I didn’t understand before.
My Inspiration By Ziare
The person who inspires me is Stan Lee, a comic book writer, publisher and producer. He was born in 1922 and died in 2018 at the age of 95. He was one of the first people to create superheroes and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The MCU is a universe where superheroes and supervillains live in the normal life of society. Ever since I was a little boy I have been obsessed with Stan and how he created superheroes. His work inspired me and I wish to be like him one day. The first time I heard about Stan Lee was from Spider-Man, one of his best works. When I was four years old, I saw Spider-Man at my grandmother’s house. I was bored since there was no WiFi and my Nintendo DS wasn’t working, so I started to look around for toys and games. I came across a room I had never been in and inside, I saw a fish tank and a big blockey television. Beside it, there was a shelf with a bunch of black rectangles on top. I searched through the boxes and asked my step father about them. He said that it was a VHS tape and that it was a movie. When he turned on the television a Spiderman movie began to play. As I watched the movie, I started to like it alot and my eyes lit up. I knew a little about superheroes but this was my first time seeing one on tape. After that day I have been committed to watching superhero movies and loved them ever since. In the past I had also gotten Spider-Man
Stan Lee once said, “That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real superhero.” Once I heard this quote from Stan Lee it made me think more about the message he wanted to get out through his work. This also made me think about how he wanted the world to be in peace and that his heroes were the ones who would accomplish that goal. One thing that I will always remember during my high school and college time is that doing the right thing and helping others is a good example for others. Stan inspired me and I would be a different person without him and his work in my life.
My Future By Zakaria
Dear past 15 year old Zakaria, A lot of things have changed as a 30 year old married woman with 3 kids and a pitbull which you named Peanut Butter, by the way. In 2034 a lot of things from your dreams have come true because now I’m a WNBA player in nursing school about to graduate and become a nurse but there is one problem that both of us can’t face. The problem is should we give up the balling lifestyle to become a nurse or stay a baller and give up nursing.
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Essays from Young Achievers On one hand we have both come so far to become a ball player but on the other hand you wanted to become a nurse to help anyone in need. You don’t have to worry about this problem just yet because you’re only 15 and you’ve got a few more years until this problem hits you in the face. What I have noticed in this new world as a 30 year old woman is that you must give up some things in life that will hurt but not as much as you move forward. What I like about both of these things is that they both make me feel like I’m doing something that I love but both sides are pulling me and it just makes me feel like I’m in a game of tug a war but I want both sides to win but they just won’t compromise and that’s when I realized that I had to choose one or the other and not both. The nursing major that you took was in gastroenterology (yes I know that sounds weird but when we were younger you wanted to learn more about bodily functions). In basketball you are the point guard for the team and you guys have won 8 championships and won 3 overtime games. But I just want you to know that whatever choice you make just make sure you follow your heart and don’t forget whatever choice you make I have to stick with it.
stairs to the kitchen where I make myself a bowl of cereal, Lucky Charms, with my Lactaid milk. Then I will go to my wall of comic books just to sit down on the couch and read digital ones . I get bored then use the slide that’s inside the couch to slide down to my room downstairs. Since I am the boss I don’t have to be at work until noon so I’ll have some to spend doing what I want. I sit down at my computer and play the latest persona game that has been released. I play it for hours until it is time for work. I walk out the door of my home to see my orb floating there. I yell out ‘open’ and the door slides down I hop into the orb, plug in the address to my company building, and it flies itself there. It takes around 30 min to get to work but with the traffic it takes 40. I manually park my orb into the parking spot at my office and hop of it. Now it’s time for work. I meet Sophia, my bodyguard and she escorts me around the building to my office where I sit down and pretend like I’m doing something important. Actually I’m on my laptop playing web games while my trusty advisers run the whole facility. I’m only needed to attend events and other things like that. The only reason why I go to the office is to see the faces of my peons After the long stressful day I go straight to the iron temple. I study Goshi Shun there . Finally, I go home and I hit the sheets ready to do it all over again.
15 Years into the Future By TeCory
The day starts like every other day; I get out of my bed, put on clothes, and then walk up-
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Mr. Albers’ Class I will help make a new Call of Duty, Walking Dead, racing games and mobile games. I will have made a new game about shooting. I will go to E3 to see more gamers and youtubers from across the world. In 15 years I will be happy and enthusiastic.
Turning Video Gaming into a Job By Akil
I always played video games since I was 3 years old. Video games taught me about problem solving, teamwork and culture. I love video games and I want to make them myself for the community. I will work hard in the next 15 years to make video games that are helpful to kids who love games as much as me and here’s how. In 5 years I will be a youtuber. A youtuber makes and produces video game content and real life videos like vlogs. I will be a gaming youtuber focusing on all games, for example First Person Shooter, Third person shooter and action games. Making these videos will make me feel challenged because I will have to have great content, be funny and compromise my sleeping schedule but this will make me have fans and followers. In 10 years I will move to Los Angeles, California in a small house that I bought by myself. I will not have pets and I will live by myself. My hobbies will be playing video games, playing football with friends, and biking. In the future I will do anything I want like go see my friends or go on a trip to different cities. I will have gone to Florida and Canada.
15 years Later By Bakari
I just won my 8th nba title in a row, I;m on my way to surpassing Bill Russell. That guy’s a loser anyways. I’m spending my 3 months off with my family. We’re currently packing up to go on a disney cruise that my daughter has wanted to go on for a while now.
In 15 years I will work at Activision with David Vonderhaar making video games every Bridging Magazine 18th Edition | 58
Essays from Young Achievers
I Dream
By D’Andre I used to live in Massachusetts but decided to move to New York to start my writing career. Like people say, “Anything can happen in the Big Apple.” Then I moved back to Massachusetts after 5 years because my writing career wasn’t taking off in New York. I would be at bookstores trying to talk to the manager who runs the place, trying to negotiate with him, telling him that you should buy a book, but every time I negotiated, I always failed, and when I did have success, no one would buy my books. It is a dark, stormy night. It is 5 am and I am troubled and cannot sleep, trying to figure out what I should write for my next story. I remember that I promised my wife and kids that I would take them out on a picnic yesterday, but I was too busy working on my story and forgot all about that. Everyone is sound asleep. There is dinner in the microwave with the plastic over it. I take the dinner and go to my office and to my desk, trying to write a story as hours go by. In this office, my lights are dim, and I am working with the curtains covering the sunlight. I’m always cooped up behind my desk, just trying to write stories that haven’t taken off yet. I am depressed. I barely spent time with my family, and I never even got to sell some of these books yet. It was hard trying to find a publisher, but no one would take me up on my word. I sit there and drink my apple juice in my sorrows. I opened up a bottle filled with some mysterious stuff I mixed. I pour myself a glass. I take it behind my desk where my laptop is. I open up my laptop real slowly. I put in my password and go to Google. I am sitting behind a desk, looking at a computer screen with a deer drowning, laughing. I told myself I know what his pain is like to do something that you can’t move out of. You’re just stuck at the bottom of the sea. I didn’t go to college. I thought it was too expensive. I told myself that I wanted to find a different occupation. During my spare time, I took a chance doing an online course for writing. A friend recommended this to me. I was on the fence but then I gave it a try. It was $10 monthly fee. I learned a lot out of it to the point where I felt like I needed to write my own story. As an author of making my own stories, I need my own downtime. I write dark humor and kids books. One was called “Death Reaper with a Shovel.” In this story, the Death Reaper tried to drag people to the Underworld. Another time I wrote about a bug that dies in the kids’ book. I was thinking to myself,
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am I making these kids books so sad? The kids need to know now rather than later that the world is not a happy place. Knocking on the door was my wife Diana, saying “I want a divorce.” At that moment, I ran to the door and got on my knees and said, “Baby, please don’t leave.” After that I realized that I had messed up on everything so at that moment I had to play the victim. At that moment I played it off on my wife saying you don’t support me one bit. My wife told me that I was always couped up in that office and ignoring my kids and wife. My wife got tired of my books not selling but no one was interested in them. Mainly it was hard trying to pay the bills. My wife said she was doing the taxes and I wasn’t trying to do the taxes. She stormed off and said she was going to her mother’s house, and she said, “I’m taking the kids.” At that moment, I went back to my desk and poured my apple juice into my glass. I threw it at the wall. Two minutes have passed and now I’m sitting there crying asking what I did wrong. I was in the house by myself at that time. During my next two months, I was begging Diana to take me back. She told me, “If you really cared about us, you would stop writing these dang stories. They aren’t selling and paying the bills.” At that point, I didn’t know what to do. I was going through a depression. I started drinking apple juice, harder than the other apple juice. At that moment, the apple juice tender said, “What’s the matter with you, bud?” I told him all what I’m going through. He told me one thing, and told me to believe in myself and “just do it”. I knew then I had to believe in myself. Three months had passed. My wife and I were divorced by then. I was stuck paying child support. I realized my book skills have been improving. Yesterday at least 15 people came into the store and bought my books since I gave my books to a local bookstore. It brought a tear to my eye to see someone actually want to read my book after all that time. I realized to myself that I need to make it much more happier for people to buy it. I realized my life is not a joke if I just put my hard earned time and belief into the
Mr. Albers’ Class books. I felt complete. Days turn into months, months turn into years and years turn into more years. Two years have passed. I’ve been featured on New York Times Bestsellers and I top 3rd place on the chart. After all that hard work, I was proud of myself. My friends came by and we celebrated by having apple juice together. I felt happiness and joy that things were looking up for me. After the hardship that I went through, all I can tell you is that you better believe in yourself. Anything can happen.
15 Years In The Future By Kayvon
I see myself as a doctor (and yes I said doctor because it’s easy to say).
Let’s pretend it’s 15 years from now.
I am successful in being a nurse. I was at the top of my class, and do the best that I can. I want to make a bright future for other people. I have the same friends, we stay in touch. I live with my spouse but we don’t have any kids yet. I have a lot of pets: cats, dogs, parrots, ferrets, one spider, but it died because I killed it twice. My hobbies are drawing and basketball. As a nurse I help people out and save lives. I know that if I don’t do my work right I might kill someone. I don’t enjoy working as a nurse but I know it’s important. In my free time I draw just for fun. Sometimes I draw for people and they pay me money. I also play basketball with my friends because we stay in touch. I live in downtown Boston. I live with my spouse but we don’t have any kids yet. I have many pets. My house smells amazing like febreeze, looks peaceful, and sounds quiet and calm.
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Essays from Young Achievers house, and I work there 7 days a week when I’m not at school. When I am at school, I’m busy going to class and seeing my friends. It’s been really fun meeting new people from around the country. I also babysit a couple times a week for a family with two kids, ages 10 and 4. They’re handful, but I love them.
In 15 Years By Keiana
Where would you be in fifteen years? I know that I will be a successful young woman because of the path that I am on now. 2019-2024 From 2019 to 2024, I will be in high school. I got into my number one chosen high school, so I will most likely be going to Cristo Rey. It is a catholic high school. I am now 14 years old in the 9th grade and I have plenty of friends. My classmates love me because of my friendliness and sense of humor. My teachers are nice and I love the way each of them teaches class. Some of the teachers that I had in the past only focused on the disruptive students and spent a lot of time on them, but my new teachers focus on our education. During my high school years, I focused on my studies to work towards getting into college. 2025-2030 I am now at Spelman College in Atlanta. I live with two college friends in my dorm. Atlanta is a such a fun city and I am excited to explore with my friends and family. I am tutoring ten 7th graders in math because it is my favorite subject. I enjoy doing people’s hair, so while I’m in Atlanta, I’m working at a hair salon. It’s near my
2031-2036 In 2031, I’ve moved to Orlando, Florida because this is where I was born and I like the southern weather. I’ve opened up my own hair salon where I have a few employees who work for me. I ran into a college friend of mine at Disney World, and we have been dating ever since. He is a police officer in Orlando. My best friend, Aphsara, and I like to travel together, and we have been to Bora Bora, the Bahamas, and Hawaii. I still want to visit the U.K., France, and Nigeria. I married my boyfriend and we bought our first house together. It’s a mansion on a quiet street and we have a pool in our backyard. My mom and my siblings visit me every summer, and I get to see my nieces and nephews as well. I’m glad I have spent time thinking about my future. The next 15 years could be different than how I described it, but I’m excited about what will happen and I know my friends and family will always be important to me.
15 Years By Diego
*Beep-beep-beep!* It’s 5 am and I wake up. I hop out of the bed into my Gucci slippers. I go to my bathroom and get myself ready for work. Once I’m done, I head down and start making breakfast for my family. It’s eggs, hash browns, and bacon. My wife comes in with our three kids, a daughter and two boys. After breakfast, my wife packs their lunches while we all get ready. It’s my turn to drop the kids off at school, so we hop in my BMW and drive there.
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On my drive in to work, my phone starts
ringing with all my employees and clients as my work day starts. We’re building a skyscraper in New York CIty and a water park in Puerto Rico. We’re a top company and things are on track. We’re a firm of 75 architects that I started after leaving my previous firm to strike out on my own. My path started in high school at Cathedral. There I went through the STEAM program, focusing on engineering, and played on their basketball team winning a state championship. After that, I got a full basketball and merit scholarship to Kentucky to play for them and study engineering.
Mr. Albers’ Class whole family was so sad, but she kept us together and made sure we were organized and ready for the funeral. In addition, I clearly recall one day when we woke up before work and school and her car started to act up so she immediately called triple A to try and figure out the issue. Even though there were major delays in repairing the car she didn’t get stressed out and kept me calm the whole time. I could see her desire to persevere by not letting it ruin her day. All the things that she did influenced me to be a hardworking person for my community. She helped form many values in my life and now i’m a very hard worker and never give up on anything that comes my way. She also taught me to put other people’s feelings before mine. My mom continues to inspire me each and every day and I hope I can become more like her in the future.
My Inspiration By Earl
My biggest source of inspiration is my mother because she is hardworking and very caring no matter what hard things come her way. She never gives up, she always puts me before anybody else when I need help with my homework, and she’s really intelligent. Even when she’s tired she wakes up early to go to work. She is on top of everyone’s schedule and she manages to drop me off at school even when she has work. One example when my mom showed how great she can be was when her mother died. She was very strong and she made sure everything was taken care of for the funeral. Our
In 15 Years By Leke
When looking 15 years into the future, I strongly believe I will be a plumber. I love spending time fixing things and working with my hands. The idea that I can take my passion and turn it into a career is an exciting thought. After I become a plumber, my next idea is to save my
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Essays from Young Achievers income from my plumbing job to be prepared for the future. I eventually want to own a plumbing business. Aside from my plumbing career, Atlanta is my ideal place to live. I’d like to stay in Atlanta because I want to be in a quiet and hot environment. Using savings from my plumbing career, I plan to buy a house in the suburbs of Atlanta. To protect the house when I am gone, I’m looking forward to having a trained german shepherd. I plan to have a small group of friends living in Atlanta to help keep me company. They will also work in my plumbing business, helping me run the company. I’d love to have my family living in the neighborhood in Atlanta, even though my Mom says she will never leave Boston. I intend to help support them, check up on them, and make sure they are safe and happy. To be able to spend more time with my close friends and family would be the best!
Where Malik Sees Himself in 15 Years By Malik
15 years from now I will be a videogame designer for Nintendo with a master’s degree in computer science.
When I turn 18, I will graduate from high-
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school and go straight to college. When I’m in college, I will major in computer science. Then when I’m in college, I would most likely do what I do now, which is learning how to code and playing video games online with my friends, such as Call of Duty. At some point in college I will learn Japanese from a tutor or from an app. I want to learn Japanese because at Nintendo it is likely that all of the other employees will speak Japanese. Another reason why I will learn Japanese is because I don’t want it to be hard for others people just to work with me. After I graduate from college I will take any good paying job that qualifies with my abilities. I would be very excited after graduating from college because I don’t have to do any more school work. To get to working at Nintendo in Japan, I will have my friend Amani assist me on making my resume. When Nintendo checks out my resume I either will save up money or have them fly me in to Japan. Then when I’m hired from Nintendo I will be a videogame designer. I would be very excited for this job because it was and still is my childhood dream. I would get to make my favorite games such as Mario and Zelda. Then I could incorporate my own ideas and create games. The thing that I would mostly be excited for is that I can make my own games for my favorite company. This is where I see myself in 15 years.
Mr. Albers’ Class
In The Mansion By Quajay
Do you see yourself living in Dallas and driving a nice car? That’s where I see myself in 15 years. In 15 years I will be 29 living in Dallas, Texas, and my life will be completely different. I have to do a good job in 8th grade and then high school and college. I don’t know for sure where I want to go to college but right now I think Boston College. I want to learn things like how to cure cancer and speak a different language. After college is when I’m going to move to Dallas. I chose Dallas because I like Dallas weather and because it’s always hot. Mainly I want to hang out with friends in Dallas. I want to live in a five star apartment. How will I be able to pay for it? Working hard doing lots of stuff. I will own a car dealership, and sell lots of cars like exotic, sports, hyper, and sedans. I want to do this to make money and also because I like cars. My family will live with me in Dallas. In my family is my nana, my uncle, my two sisters, and my mom. I will also maybe be married but I don’t know if I want kids. They will be able to do whatever they want besides burn down the house. Have you ever been to a mansion party? It will be like a mansion party with my family. Everybody will have to cook for themselves, even my sisters. In conclusion, I’m excited to live in Dallas. I’m going to put in the hard work to get there, like getting all As in all my classes and maybe saving money. I’m most excited about moving to Texas because it’s hot there and there’s nice views.
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