WHEN KIDS CAN WRITE: BESIDES GRADES, TEST SCORES AND OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS, STUDENTS USE THEIR ESSAYS TO MAKE THEM SHINE IN A VAST BOWL OF APPLICANTS AND LOCAL SAN PEDRO YOUNG POET, AMY EPPERHART, SCORES AGAIN WITH LULLABY AND DON'T FORGET THE SODA TASTING FOR KIDS AT THE CORNER STORE JUNE 6!

Dear Readers: Since it's June and time to watch another flock of children leave their nests and fly off to university, I will share several of the essays they wrote over the next week or so --- along with other "when kids can write" pieces. Diana


UNIVERSITY ACCEPTANCES & ESSAY:
Noe Preciado, 17: San Pedro High Varsity Soccer Team
Career desire: architect
Accepted to: UC Riverside, CS San Jose, San Diego, Cal Poly Pomona, Woodbury University, Wentworth Institute of Technology, UC Davis, USC
Will attend: Pomona
Essay Quote: “I have learned that criticism will always exist and that it should never conquer us.”

Essay From College Bound Writing Class at the Boys and Girls Club: My parents and the hardships I have experienced since an early age have both become my greatest influence and somehow motivated me to strive for more in life. My background not only shows how I have evolved into a better person but also why I have chosen my goals and why I am so desperate to complete them.

My father was born in a small town in Mexico, with few opportunities where the chances for a decent life were very limited if at all present. He was just another of ten children born whose sole objective was to help the rest of the family in the fields to provide enough food to survive. Clearly, education was not a priority at the time and my dad was forced to drop out of school by the third grade.

As a teenager he came to the United States and even though his mom acquiesced, he came against his father’s wishes. At the young age of eighteen when most boys haven’t transformed into men, my dad found himself in an unfamiliar country without friends, money and merely a vague idea of how things worked. Thirty-eight years later my dad overcame almost everything put in his path. Due to his hard work, he now lives the American Dream and owns his house but most importantly he has provided a better life for himself and his family.

My mom’s life has influenced me in a different but equally strong way. My mother’s destiny was partially controlled by my grandfather; he never allowed or approved of my mother’s desire to find a soul mate. At almost thirty-two, she lied to her father, saying she would go on vacation to the United States but instead reunited with my father and married him, even though no one approved of it. Her whole family criticized her and she ran the risk of becoming the family outcast, however, she never let people’s opinions change her decision and stood up for herself and her actions. A year later she went back to Mexico where everyone finally saw her strong will and accepted her for who she really was.

Even though this country does a lot to provide an equal chance at prosperity to everyone, there are always obstacles preventing many from reaching it. When I was born my first home was a small house in Wilmington, one of the worst areas in the county shared by our family of four and uncle. We resided in front of the projects, notorious for gang violence, drugs and crime. Conditions were so dangerous that my mom literally crawled to the kitchen so that she wouldn’t be a victim of a drive-by.

We finally moved to a better area and even though it wasn’t great, our new home was an improvement. By this time we began elementary school and I found myself making friends with lower-class children like myself, who no one had high expectations for. In middle school, I began to witness my friends and classmates change and conform into what many believed they would become. It was hard for me to see these people change so quickly and begin going in the wrong direction. Not many of the exceptional students from before remained, and I didn’t allow myself to follow my friends’ steps and become a person I was not.

These events have defined my personality and helped me set my goals. They will support me in pursuing my dream of one day becoming an architect and assist me in surmounting the intense program I seek to attend. They will help me become the first person in my family to go to college and make me realize that like my father, I too would like to one day give my family a better chance at life.

My mother’s life has taught me to always attempt to accomplish our aspirations no matter what, and to never let anything get in the way. I have learned that criticism will always exist and that it should never conquer us. My early childhood helped me become a stronger person and open my eyes to reality. I never let society define me, and became someone I wasn’t hypothetically supposed to be. With these experiences I know who I am, someone who defies all expectations that were once attributed to them.

AMY EPPERHART,16,: OUR LOCAL POET GAL WHO SPENDS HOURS STUDYING, WRITING AND PLANS TO BECOME AN ARCHAEOLOGIST, SCORES ANOTHER MOVING PIECE WITH "LULLABY” – ONCE AGAIN AWESOME!

Lullaby
By Amy Epperhart

They soon grow cold

The ones we love

We sing

A mourning lullaby


Sleep sweetly

Let dreadful pain ebb

Sleep sweetly

Let despair crumble

Sleep sweetly

As life fades


It rains

Salty tear drops

As we sing

A grieving lullaby


Sleep sweetly

Close weary eyes

Sleep sweetly

Fold snowy wings

Sleep sweetly

In the starry sky


Left behind

By those we love

So we sing

A peaceful lullaby

CORNER STORE EVENT EXPLODES INTO A SODA TASTING FESTIVAL FOR KIDS AND THEIR FAMILIES; DON'T MISS THIS FIZZY TASTING THAT WILL HELP THE LOS ANGELES MARITIME MUSEUM
A lot of tastings exist in this world -- wine, beer, cheese -- but soda?
This tasting will aid in the development of a large kids' exhibit at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum and will make for a fun family fun adventure on Saturday, June 6 at the Corner Store, 1118 W.37th Street.

Pop tastings cost $5 per ticket for either an adult or child. Tasting times are at 11:30 a.m./1 p.m. and 2:30. Tickets can be purchased at
the Cornet Store or a he museum, Berth 84, at the foot of Sixth Street, in San Pedro.