Chrestomathy 2019-20 by The Calhoun School

CHRESTOMATHY (FROM THE GREEK WORDS KRESTOS, USEFUL, AND MATHEIN, TO KNOW) IS A COLLECTION OF CHOICE LITERARY PASSAGES. IN THE STUDY OF LITERATURE, IT IS A TYPE OF READER OR ANTHOLOGY THAT PRESENTS A SEQUENCE OF EXAMPLE TEXTS, SELECTED TO DEMONSTRATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE OR LITERARY STYLE

“Think Higher, Feel Deeper” – Elie Wiesel

THE CALHOUN MIDDLE SCHOOL LITERARY PUBLICATION GRADE 7 - JANUARY, 2020

BEGINNINGS WORDS MATTER Here’s a thought that’s worth contemplation, One that applied will cause reverberation, In all our behaviors and all our actions, To develop our morals and give them traction. Words matter. They can break a heart or mend it strongly, Give you direction or move you wrongly. Warm you inside or heat you with hate, Offer free will or control your fate. Words matter. They can help you belong or set you apart, End a friendship or help one to start. Ideas can flourish or be repressed, They can create serenity or cause much stress. Words matter. They can build peace or cause bombs to fly, People to stand up or just stand by. They can tear people down or make them brave, Build their lives or dig them a grave. Words matter. They can make us smile when we see our reflections, Or focus on flaws upon further inspection. They can furrow our brows and make us intense, Or make us giddy with childlike nonsense. Words matter. They offer surprise when they aren’t expected, And when our minds narrow, they might be rejected. They can open us up and bring on respect, Create acceptance and the time to reflect. Words matter. They can give leaders power to move a population, In ways that construct or bring devastation. They can strengthen the will or cause it to break, Give rise to oration or make the words shake. Words matter. Philosophers use them, with wisdom of course, They’re the basis of connection, the primary source. Yet, they can cause guilt and they can cause fear, Their directions are varied, it depends how you steer. 2

Words matter. Sometimes the tone controls just how theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re meant, Their purpose, their structure, their mood, their intent. Sometimes theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re crass, sometimes refining, Depending on use, they are often defining. Words matter. Letters together, in poetry or prose, Constructs the ways humanity grows. To chaos, to order, to fear, to connection, They are there for you, upon inspection. Words matter. -Larry Sandomir All the words on the following pages matter. They come from the hearts and minds of this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seventh graders and they are filled with ideas, notions, emotions, logic, philosophy, observation, and meaning. And, whether in poetry or prose, they are here for your reflection.

PHILOSOPHIES: THE MEANING OF LIFE FOR US Theories & Thoughts from Ben Elsberg One ancient Greek philosopher believed that water was the fundamental element of the universe. He believed that the basic element of the universe had to be something that: changes form, vital to life, and must have motion. He was right, at least for Earth, but he was way off about the universe. But then does the universe need in order to exist? Before Newton discovered gravity, people believed that things fell due to their connection with the earth. For example, a rock might be harder to lift than a leaf, because a rock is more connected to the earth. Newton later disproved this theory. Humans are very good at figuring out what something is, but not why something is. Michael Stevens is an American educator. He is most well-known for his YouTube Channel VSauce, and his series on YouTube known as Mind Field. In Mind Field he answers a lot of interesting questions and conducted many experiments. Mind Field is a YouTube original series that focuses on human psychology. The Milgram Experiment (which is no longer done today; the experiment was considered inhumane) was conducted in 1963. The Milgram experiment was a social psychology experiment where participants were told that one of them would be the ‘learner’, and the other would be the ‘teacher’. The ‘learner’ would always be one of Milgram’s coworkers, while as the ‘teacher’, would be the actual test subject. The ‘teacher’ would read a question and were instructed to give an electric shock every time the other person got the answer wrong. As time went on, the ‘teacher’ was instructed to raise the voltage every time the ‘learner’ got an answer wrong. Even after the voltage was super high, and the ‘learner’ was begging for the electric shock to stop, the head of the experiment told them to ignore the pleading and continue giving the shock. The results concluded that people will follow orders from someone in authority even if it means harming another human being. But why? Maybe in fear of getting hurt themselves if they do not do as the person in authority says. When told to do something by someone in authority, they will most often do it. Humans are not afraid to harm others, even in the most diabolical ways. Take the Holocaust for example. The Nazi’s did not hesitate to slaughter all those innocent people. The thought of it disgusts me. Humans are very complex creatures. We murder each other, love each other, save each other, harm one another, heal one another, annoy one another, care for one another, and even sometimes, eat each other. And yet we are all human. My theory of humanity is that violence will never truly be abolished, bad people will never truly be abolished, because a world without problems, is a world free of humans. What would a world without empathy be like? It would be a place where we only did things for our own selfinterest, perhaps our punishment system, would be a reward system. But to be honest, a world without empathy would quickly fall apart. My concluding theory: everything that exists, somewhere, somehow, has an opposite.

Theories & Thoughts from Elias Yahya For me, the meaning of life is to have a meaning to someone/something. If you don’t have a meaning you have no purpose of living. You will be “bored of life” if you don’t have a purpose. Every human I know has a purpose, it can be to teach, or to be the best, first, strongest, fastest, or just an ordinary person. I personally have a purpose

to living. My goal, to be the best soccer player in the world and I will be playing for Barcelona. Even if that doesn’t happen I will have a related to a soccer business any way possible. By being a coach, mentor, Assistant coach, referee, even a ball boy, you name it. What I am trying to say is that I have a plan for the future so I have a meaning to life and so that I can have a successful career. However, as a kid, I have a meaning to my life. The meaning is to have fun in my childhood and also to get good grades in school.

Katherine Sushko My Philosophy; The Meaning of Life for Me To be honest, I don’t know the meaning of my life, I don't think anyone is fully sure why they were put here on the planet. For all we know, there might be thousands of copies of our lives and we are just one possibility. But for now, while I’m twelve, and in 7th grade, I know that I exist because that’s what the universe wanted. I think that we should be able to trust the universe and know that everything happens for you and not to you. The universe is on your side. Sometimes our minds go to the worst situations possible even if there are thousand if not millions of positive directions that it can lead up to, so we need to take a breath and realize that the universe is in control and that it’s going in our favor. Every now and then I lay in bed thinking why am I alive, if the universe really wanted it, everything could go black, we could slowly die out, everything and everyone could just be gone, but for some reason we have been alive for millions and millions of years. Right now, in my life, everything is becoming confusing but clear at the same time. As we grow up, so do our thoughts, we start thinking “behind the scenes” of things so we find new meanings and understandings of things. I’m happy with my life and where it is taking me. Throughout my life I have realized that even though things get bumpy, I am learning to understand that things will pass and that nothing is permanent. So while I’m twelve, and in 7th grade I am happy.

Hudson Lundy My Philosophy: My Meaning of Life What does it mean to live a moral life? For us not to strife Or should we be kind Or to always strive for the strongest mind Is it to be the best And never rest still we see success Or maybe it’s none of those Or maybe this is how a moral life shows But to me, be yourself Don’t stop working until you have reached the highest shelf Learn how to make mistakes and deal with them Look back at them and see what you become.

Frieda Katz The Meaning of Life

To understand my purpose in Life I need to know where I’ve come from so that i can create a meaningful future. Life is enhanced when one delves into their own past, in order to understand what their future can become. Family and heritage is a major theme in my life. I am privileged to have a great-grandma still alive. She has been a vital influence on my development as a human being. Since moving to New York, I am now even closer to her, geographically and emotionally. This means I can spend more quality time with her on a regular basis. Time is precious and in today's manic world spending meaningful moments with loved ones is few and far between. My great-grandmother has travelled across the globe, experiencing many incredible journeys throughout her life. For my bat mitzvah, I was given a very original gift. It is a memory box including artefacts recalling the varied and plentiful adventures she has lived through. The contents of the box include: • A letter and card holder that belonged to my great-great granny and was bought in Asia. • Zodiac sculpture, Gemini. Made for my great-granny by Jean Stein who was a friend of hers and a famous sculptress in Israel. • A pottery bird called “Bluebird of happiness” which was bought in Switzerland. • An Australian enameled silver box bought in Sydney in 1990. • Sitting wooden giraffes, bought in Kenya in the 1970s. • Topaz ball earrings that were bought by my Great-grandpa in Europe. • A book. Author: Jonathon Livingston, Title: The Seagull which I haven't had the time to read yet but I’ve been told is a lovely story. My great-granny bought it in Cape Town in the 1970s. • A pottery brown owl with an Antenna. My great-granny loves owls! • Ivory miniature of a young girl in a brass frame which was my great-great grandma. I hope to find my own treasures like this as I grow up and travel the world. It will hopefully bring me joy, purpose and meaning and remind me of my unique great-grandmother and the legacy she has given me.

Beatrice Barnsley My Philosophy: The Meaning of Life for Me I am therefore I think. “I think therefor I am” is a famous phrase by the French philosopher Rene Descartes. He wrote his ideas down after the catholic church had lost its reputation for absolute authority. Descartes was trying to find certainty of his existence and he found it in his own thinking. His awareness of his own thinking proves his existence, rational thought was the proof of existence. Not very many people who came after Descartes believed his ideas, but his placement of thinking as primary was significant. In some ways, this reminds me of Socrates when he stated “the unexamined life is not worth living” In both of these philosopher’s minds thinking or rational thought was above all else. While I agree rational thought is a very important part of being human, I think there is more to existence than rational thought, for example, emotional thought. Our emotional reactions aren’t always rational. I love my cat, but there is nothing he does for me that benefits me in any rational way. He doesn’t protect my property, make me food or do the dishes. I love him because he is cute and cuddly, but that is an emotional benefit. People don’t always love music because of rational reasons, they love it because it speaks to their emotional side. The lyrics can excite your emotions and it’s fun to dance. I think rational thought is not the only important part of life. I don’t have a rational reason for thinking this, but that only proves my point. Trying to reduce all my personal experiences into a rational explanation is selling my life short. I am therefore I think, but there is so much more.

Emily Vidal My Philosophy: The Meaning of Life for Me In my old school I didn’t have many friends. Well I basically had none. I had no one to talk to about my problems. No one to laugh with at a funny joke, but in my old school I felt safe because I had been there since I was four. So when I was in fifth grade, I was really scared that in my new school no one would like me. I thought about it so much that on my first day of school I tried my best not to speak. Then In seventh grade in Calhoun everything changed. I talked more and got more familiar with people, and now It’s my home away from home. So, for me, the meaning of life means people you love and care for, because I love every single person in my grade unconditionally. They all help me grow as a person every single day. I want to stay here forever and be able to laugh with everyone. This school is just way too much fun!

Sadie Hawkins My Philosophy: The Meaning of Life for Me. I decided to do an art piece for mine and wanted it to symbolize how much I value my friends and having close relationships with people. I used to be really quiet about my problems. I’m still not as open as I would like to be, but because of some really close friends I was able to start being more open to people. I’ve always cared a lot about my friends, even more so than myself sometimes as I really value friendship, trust, and loyalty. I had the idea to have a bird like creature surrounding a glowing heart. I wanted the bird having its wings around the heart as if it were protecting it from harm. If someone teases me I normally ignore them, but I really don’t like it when people tease or annoy my close friends. The heart’s supposed to symbolize platonic love for my friends and family, The bird symbolizes my philosophy about being trustworthy and loyal to those you care about. I try and keep myself away from drama, as it seems to only cause trouble, but when it comes to listening and helping my friends out with their drama I always try to do my best.

Zac Tucker Philosophy for Me For my entire life I have questioned things and so has everyone else because it's a part of life and something interesting to me, like why do we have numbers? Why question everything? And this project was interesting. It w challenging and helped me question things with smarts and integrity. Last year at my old school we had a whole subject called “Philosophy and Theology” and in that subject we learned about other religions and other people’s. We also learned about famous philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Descartes and that has helped me a lot with some of the questions in this project. I have learned that you need to think deeper than the eye can see and as Rene Descartes says, “Cogito, ergo sum” “which in English means, “I think therefore I am.” This project has also helped me decipher the difference between right and wrong and now my perspective is that right and wrong are not just a way of doing things, but a way to live a life peacefully, carefully and lovingly.

Bryce Washington Life is weird to me. for example, you don’t know when the earth is going to be destroyed. Some scientists say that the earth is going to end in twenty-five years at least that’s why they say. I don’t think they should tell us when the world is going to end because then people will start to worry. If we pollute too much and then people will probably spend all of their lives spazzing out. I almost died once and it felt weird at the moment. After I felt so weird my stomach felt like it sunk all the way to the bottom. It was like I actually died but I half died because I had something holding myself up so I didn’t fall. To remind me that this was at least 10 feet in the air which was so scary. I was doing aerial parkour.

Sam Gevert My Philosophy: The Meaning of Life for Me Life doesn't really make sense. What is death and why does it happen, can it be avoided? Is life really worth living. What is life? Is there a quality difference between someone who lives 40 years, 60 years, 80 years, or 100 years? Is birth the beginning and death the end? At some point, I have to answer these questions. Life on Earth started many millions of years ago from single cell organisms. Through evolution, more complex life forms came to be. Eventually, there were humans. In its most basic form, life has been about survival and evolution. It also shows how all living beings are connected. Life for us, as humans, is much more complex. Different people have different goals in life. Some people live just for survival and others live for enjoyment and yet others live for wealth or social power. People also live for the pursuit of knowledge and others live for their families. I want to live for enjoyment. For example, I want to fill my bucket list. I am a thrill seeker. I want to go skydiving, squirrel shooting, either jointhe Air Force or German Luftwaffe, and et a motorbike. However, those things might change when I get older. I am worried that life on Earth will be cut short by global warming or other catastrophes before I get to really live it to the fullest. There are many things that could end a life, but for now, I don’t want to worry about that. For now, I just have to worry about what is going on my bucket list.

Kirsten Goulbourne My Philosophy: The Meaning of Life for Me The question of the meaning of life is perhaps one that we would rather not ask, for fear of the answer or lack thereof. If god had an intelligent purpose in creating us, no one really knows what this purpose might be, or that it is especially meaningful. We should strive to create our own purpose or purposes. Human life may not have been created with any predetermined purpose, but this need not mean that it cannot have a purpose, nor that this purpose cannot be just as good as, if not much better than, any predetermined one. And so, the meaning of life, of our lives, is that which we choose to give it.

Violet Friedman My Philosophy: The Meaning of Life for Me What is the meaning of life No one knows Is it just to figure out? Or are you supposed to ponder it for our whole lives What if the meaning of life is not to figure out You’re not supposed to figure it out It’s different for everyone The meaning of life Is there even a meaning Can the meaning of life be the purpose of life? We have our purpose and our meaning That is up to us to decide

There is not one meaning There are many Not just a purpose Many purposes The meaning of life to me Is to find out what my meaning is To be good To be nice Kind Mean Evil Whatever my meaning of life is I'm still looking This is my meaning of life

Monte Greene My Philosophy: The Meaning of Life for Me My grandfather is an incredible man. The things he has done to get his family to where it is today is something other grandfathers could only fathom. In one way or another, I’ve noticed his very existence has affected all of my family in some way. I first realized the impact he had on my life when I lived in his vision of family importance and knowledge. It was and will continue to be an experience that changed the way I look at the world. I believe the meaning of life is something you cannot teach. The meaning of life can be whatever you want. For me is to accomplish something that is very important. If you have a goal in life, you should pursue that dream until you have accomplished it. For me, I want to be a professional actor and/or a professional basketball player. I have also wanted to be a comedian but that’s if the other two don’t work out. As I get older, more and more things become clearer in my life. One thing that has become abundantly clear is global warming. I feel I have finally woken up for the deep sleep I have been in for so long. When I was younger, I was aware of global warming and climate change but not like I am now. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy struck New York City and after that storm, I decided to research climate change on my own and I found some things out about the topic. In my neighborhood, there were about 15 trees that were blown out of the ground and onto one street that was blocked off by a dead end. 5 big trees and 10 little ones. Every night after coming home from school, I would come home to a bunch of trees that were on the ground and it gave me motivation to be an activist for all things and not just global warming. In the background, people were just mowing lawns, talking, or taking breaks and acting like nothing was happening around them. Frequently, new people would come to my neighborhood and looking at the trees and taking pictures. I would look out my window every day to see if the trees were moved. I felt nobody was truly realizing what was happening in this world and it kind of bothered me. As I began to grow older, I learned to respect the environment that have different lifestyles than we do. In winter, not only did we visit nearby parks, we visited different ecosystems. My niece and I learned more from school about animals, plants, and oxygen. Teachers explained our origin in the world and how we represent mother Earth. During this time, I was teaching myself about this stuff because my grandfather inspired me to do so.

Vella Carter The Meaning of Life for Me There is so much in my life that I'm grateful for and so many things that are meaningful to me. This is what it means to me. The meaning of life for me is valuing every minute and learning for them. It means to always take your moral high road (which I showed in my drawing) and follow your moral code and to always be who you are not who other people think or expect you are. Life is also believing, believing in yourself and things. Family is also a very big part of my life. Drawing is a big part of my life to its a hobby of mine, but it’s more important to me than other hobbies because I drew pretty much every day when I was little it was my favorite thing and it still is. Life is also telling the truth, but caring about other people's feelings. It is being an upstander, not being a bully. My family means a lot to me. I always have the best time with my family and I am so lucky to have them! In My drawing there are two sides of the heart, the sides are New York and Maui. I drew those two places because they are both a big part of my life. New York is my home, I was born and raised there, but for me my real home is Maui. Its where I feel most comfortable. Where the ocean and the sun is, it’s my favorite place. I have been going to Maui every year since I was 6 months old and I will never get sick of going. This is the meaning of life for me. We only have one life to live, so live it the way you want.

Isabel Gil Philosophy: The Meaning of Life for Me This collage shows things in my life that are important to me. To me, this picture captures my whole life. It includes things I like to do or watch, as well people that are important to me. There are multiple photos that include nature, like the pictures of the sunset, and the picture of the grass. I really enjoy watching pictures of sunsets. They relax me and are so mesmerizing to look at. I also enjoy taking pictures of them even though the pictures never do them justice. Taking pictures of the sunset captures the moment so I can remember it in the future. All these pictures captured moments in my life that I will remember forever and that make me who I am. My friends and family keep me sane, which is why I included them. I used pictures of new friends I’ve met recently and people I’ve known for most of my life. These people are extremely important to me. Without them I wouldn’t be who and where I am today. My sister, who is in multiple of these pictures, is one of the most special people in my life. She has been here for me through everything, as well as my parents. My parents also are a special part of my life and I could not live without them. The friends in these pictures have always been by my side. Even though some people I’ve only met this year, I made some great memories with them already. All these pictures represent who I am and my whole life.

Gibson Hope Enjoy Life Life Is Whatever you want it to be Life Is The best And worst Of life Is everything And nothing Indescribable To someone that has not lived Life Is the best gift you will ever have The ups The downs

All lead To death Whatever comes You cannot stop Enjoy life

Harper Dorr My Philosophy There are a few things that are essential to functioning in this world. You should be honest, but I also believe that it is okay to tell a white lie every once in a while. Being kind is important too. You need to find the right balance between being kind, and being too kind. You should be caring, you should be considerate of others’ feelings, but you should not be scared you will always hurt someone, just because you did one thing. Last but not least, you should be generous. You should be able to share things, and I believe that they will pay off in the end. Kindness I reach out my hand To shed my light To help you out, of your dark night I will help you see the day To see the sun in all of us So we can all be robust I will share my sun with you, so you may shine too You my still feel sad, but I hope I made you a little more glad And tomorrow if you see someone down Maybe You Can Turn Their Day Around

Alya Lyne My Philosophy You are a star. You shine brighter than you know, that’s just who you are. Inside of you, you have a light. A light that shines so very bright. Don’t snuff out that light because it makes you who you are. Don’t snuff out that hope because that hope makes you a star. You have to know that you are worth all of it. If you go through life thinking you're worthless, you’re never going to see it. See your true meaning that’s bigger than reason. Bigger than an elephant and bigger than a sun. Everyone is here for a reason, whether that reason is good or bad, bad or good. It’s a reason that should be understood. You will never have a happy life if you can’t be happy with yourself. If you're so focused on everyone else. To find happiness in the world, you first need to find happiness inside of you. Happiness that’s good and happiness that’s true. Find your inner peace, find your inner soul. Find your inner purpose, the reason behind it all. Enjoy your life because it’s fleeting. Enjoy the time you have before leaving. Don’t focus on the small stuff, it doesn’t make too much of a difference. In the long run, it’s the big things we did.

Su Ongoren Personal Philosophy My personal philosophies about life are simple. Make the most of your life since eventually you’ll die. A life lasts for about 80 years, and during those years I will try to make the most of it. I will not be here forever and want to get things done. Once someone is born they will also die; these two actions are linked together inseparably and will be forever. Even if humans can conquer natural death, another way of death will arise. When I am alive, the life I live will be eventful and will leave a handprint on civilization. Another reason I believe in making the most of my life is because one day, humanity as a whole will end. To some people, this may make life sound useless, but to me it does the opposite. This motivates me to do what I want to do before humanity goes extinct. Another part of my philosophy is to respect nature and other beings. Treat people kindly so more people will do the same, until people can choose to not bully others just because they are afraid and insecure themselves. Respect nature since the trees and ozone layer are two of the many reasons we are alive, yet both are being depleted rapidly since some only care about profits and money. Keep your conscience and don't let it go numb, because once it does it can’t go back. When compassion is lost, people will become desensitized to killing, war and tragedy. Try to stand up for people who are being picked on and stand up for what you believe in, so you can make the world better. Another part of my philosophy is to try to have friends and form close ties with family. When someone does that they can rebound from tough circumstances faster, and have some fun which can really help when one is upset. Try to do things that you’ve done before to give you a sense of familiarity in new places or with different people.

Selin Ongoren My Philosophy of Life My philosophy of life is that you only live once, so make sure you have no regrets. If you have one chance to live, then you should live to the fullest and try to make the most of it, because you won’t get that chance again. You want to know that you can go out knowing you did everything you needed to do. This philosophy goes for what you want to do in life as well. If you want to dedicate yourself to a cause, do it because eventually you will have regrets if you don’t. For example, if there is a job that is your dream to do, then you should try to go for it. Even if you don’t make it, you still tried, and you will definitely have another opportunity to try again down the line. If you love someone, tell them because that might be the only chance you have. Or if you want to travel somewhere to do something, do it. It doesn’t matter who opposes your ideas. After all, it’s your life, not anybody else’s, and you can do whatever you want with it. You also need to pass down what you know to future generations, because they will learn a copious amount of knowledge from it. If we didn’t know what we knew now, life wouldn’t have been as easy. War would still be going on more often than it already does, and we couldn’t talk to people from other countries because we wouldn’t be as technically developed. Oral history is a big part of people’s lives, from family stories to war history. You also learn survival skills, like how to grow things as well, and other ideas that aren't written down. Overall, life is something that you only experience once, so you have to make the most of it. You have to take chances, and do what you want to do now and down the line. It’s your life. not anybody else’s, so make your decisions yourself. Pass down what you know to future generations, because they will learn a lot from it. In order to advance farther in the future, we need to tell people about the past so they can learn from our mistakes, and make sure you have no regrets, because you won’t have enough time to make sure you have none by the end.

Ethan Weinstock My Philosophy: The Meaning of Life for Me The meaning of life for me Is what we do Within our small lifespans The meaning of life for me Is the people I help And the people I keep away from The meaning of life for me Is the ability To see, move, and feel The meaning of life for me Is where I come from And where I will go The meaning of life for me Is how we survive Through the night The meaning of life for me Is how we learn And how we fall The meaning of life for me Is how we find Our way through the night The meaning of life for me Is how we work And how we grow The meaning of life for me Is what I know And what I show The meaning of life for me Are the people beside me My family

Abigail Keller Self-Acceptance My philosophy is to love and accept yourself. We need that in our lives almost as much has we need air to breathe. How on earth do you think people get by in life without self-love? You need to accept and love yourself

because it is very hard to get through life without it. When people ask for advice about self-love and acceptance how can you give it without knowing about it yourself? My philosophy is all about the reasons why you should love and accept yourself. A lot of people ask themselves, “Why should I love myself?” or “Why am I here?” or even “What's the point in loving yourself?” People need to know they matter and play a role in everyone's life. You matter. You always will.

Lydia Bayko My Philosophy; What Life Means to Me Life is a difficult concept to wrap your head around; even after this project, it’s impossibility still baffles me. It’s really difficult to describe, so I’m going to try my best to answer my own question: What does it mean to be dead? Well, being dead is still an unknown concept to everyone. Since the dead can’t talk, we have no idea what happens when you ‘die.’ You could be reincarnated, or go to Heaven. There are many numbers of ideas people have had. Also, because of my own individual belief that there is no Afterlife or God, I don’t really know what it means either. But what does it mean to be ‘dead?’ We have no evidence that we aren’t already dead, and are just the spirits or reincarnations of something before us. There is also a 1 in 400 chance that we are to be born, so being born is kind of like a better version of winning the lottery, depending on where you’re born. Babies beginning their life had no epiphany that they were about to be born, they just were born. Death could be the same thing. We could be just entering another life without knowing it. One of my favorite quotes, which is anonymous, is, “What a caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.” We should be very grateful for the life we’re given, which is why I try to live each day with positivity. I’ve never really experienced something truly sad, and I think I’m very lucky to have never lost someone that I love. The worst grief I’ve had to deal with was when my hamster died. That was really painful for me, because he was the first pet I’d ever had, and I love animals. Living a life based on others' emotions (like saying you like Star Wars even though you don’t to make others like you. Even though you have a burning hatred of Star Wars.) is the path to an unhealthy life. For instance, one thing I used to do was say my favorite color was blue. It actually isn’t blue, because I like pink. But I noticed that people like blue more than they like pink, and changed my favorite color. I have been trying to be more honest lately, and was having a conversation with a friend recently when I had an epiphany. “What’s your favorite color? Mine’s purple.” “Oh… I like blu- No, I don’t actually, I like pink!” I'm sure it was very startling for the person I was talking to watch me have a mental meltdown. For me, the key to a healthy life is being honest, true to yourself, and have a balance with things that you like.

Keith Johnson The Meaning of Life for Me The meaning of life for me is more complex, Something we don't think about, something It's what gives people hope in our world, The thing that restores faith in America's little boys and girls,

Most people find it hard to tell which is right or wrong, Terrorist groups are on the high, Countless people continuously die, So many things that need fixing, But no one in power even cares, They are focused on money and guided by greed, Why some children are left hungry on the streets, We try to cover the bad in this country, We may have war, each of us with a different face, But Instead of all the fighting we should work together as a human race. This poem was based on all the bad things that happen in the world. The main thing I'm trying to tell you in this poem is that the meaning of life is working together. If we all work together regardless of our attitude, our gender, and our skin color, the world would be a lot better. If we don't start working together soon, the next generation is going to have a lot of problems all because of us. I want to thank Ben Stiller for trying to bring peace to little kids just like us in other countries where there is war constantly. For me this is the true meaning of life.

Kiyan Anthony The Meaning of Life for Me The meaning of life is something out of this world Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s whatever you want it to be, Life is disorganized In life you have to find your meaning not someone else's, You have to reach your goals and find your passion Life is full of obstacles The only constant thing in life is change SO many people need saving in the world, But only a few people help Everyone needs to participate The greatest tragedy in life is not death, it's a life without purpose. Many people live a good and solid lives, but have no purpose. I feel like more people need to participate in giving to the homeless and the non-healthy so that our world can excel.

Max Anderson The Meaning of Life What is the meaning of life? Is the meaning of life making a jump-shot? Is the meaning of life becoming the best soccer player to ever live? Is the meaning of life drinking a refreshing coke on a hot day? Is the meaning of life having fun with your friends? Is the meaning of life to be adventurous? Is the meaning of life to go to every country In the world? Maybe it is The meaning of life is whatever you want it to be

Kali Hageman You know the movie “The Matrix”? Some people believe that we are truly living in the matrix just like the movie. Others believe that we’re all here for a reason and life is not a simulation. At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter. We are all born just to die. Very few people make a huge impact on the world in their lifetimes, so technically most people's lives are pointless. Some people believe that you are reborn so you may have a chance at a better or worse life. You are in this never- ending cycle of life which some people will think is worse than Hades. If we’re all being honest life usually has more bad things than good. Some people believe that if you’re good then you go to heaven and if you’re bad you go to Hades. If you are a bad person and you do good things are you going to heaven? If you’re a good person and you do bad things are you going to hell? We don’t know. What I am trying to say is, I still don’t know the point or meaning of life. But I’m planning on figuring out.

Mac McGrath The Philosophy Project Four Minutes It takes four minutes to walk, From one life to another, Four minutes to make decisions, And to choose how I want the day to go, To remember, Be a good person, always, To forget, Yesterday’s frustrations, To listen, To one song, or one story, Four minutes is not enough time, To do everything, But then again, No time is enough. ___________________________________ Are Humans Made to Think? Well, yes. For if we could not think we could not do. But also, no. Because we don’t need to think to survive. We have instincts. But we also have intelligence, which often outsmarts instincts.

Intelligence is like a bunch of monkeys Dancing around bananas that they can’t reach yet. It’s awful not to have it, but when you do, it’s great. Instinct is the driving force behind the want for those bananas. The monkeys know they need food to live. The humans know they need food to live, But then starve because they can’t choose what to eat. Intelligence is a charm and a curse, And we could live without it, But we shouldn’t. Because life would be a constant, unchanging Shade of ugly grey. It’s better when life’s green and blue, and red, and orange, and yellow, and purple, and brown. So, we should think, But not too much. _____________________________________ My Philosophy in a School Day of Poem Seven A.M. Seven in the morning is a time where the street is, unlike me, awake. It’s when the people who have to do something are running around In their yellow jackets bright as the sun and their blue uniforms cold as the sea. And me, still asleep in my red and blue and white and grey checked pyjamas, Comforting as the shower I might step into later if I’m lucky and hit snooze only once. Eight A.M Eight in the morning is when I have been awake for maybe a half-hour, My eyes beginning to clear from their morning haze, My head slowly adjusting to its new place, Sitting upon the lopsided chair that is my body, And my stomach is soon to be full of food I don’t really like, But eat anyways because it’s quick, And I don’t want to be late, I have got things to do, Places to be, In my head. Nine A.M. Nine in the morning is a funny time, For I am doing things, Smiling, I hope, Making others smile, Learning things I didn’t know, Being taught how to do things, The way they are to be done, Then doing them in my own way, The wrong way to some, But at least I am doing something. Ten A.M. Ten in the morning is just like nine, But this time I am more awake, My hand might be tired by now, depending on the class I had,

Or it might be limp at my side or surfing a computer keyboard, Transcribing the ideas that run from my head to my hands, The ideas must be tired, for they run far and often. Eleven A.M. Eleven in the morning is when I want it to be twelve, Because twelve is lunchtime, And I have been hungry for more all day. Twelve A.M. Twelve in the afternoon is when I am my own person again, Free to wander both on the ground and in my mind, I have nowhere to be, I can go read a book or eat or talk or sing or write, Or I can just sit, And do nothing, Because sometimes nothing is the best kind of something to be doing. One P.M. One in the afternoon is when I trip over my feet and fall back into reality, It’s time to learn again, It’s what I do all day, really, They say eat broccoli and peas and carrots to grow big and strong, But you should eat a book too, It won’t always taste great when you’re chewing it, But it’ll be worth it later when you need the knowledge you ingested. Two P.M. Two in the afternoon is when I might learn in a different way, I might be taught music by a tall figure who tells too many stories, I still love every second though, Because the unsteady screeches of a few years ago are gone now, We make music, We’re on top of the world when we play, Or at least I am. Three P.M. Three in the afternoon is ten minutes away from when it all ends, Ten minutes until most people become a distant memory, Only called upon at the half-empty dinner table, Where my day is asked how it was, It was okay, They’re all okay, When I do things, at least.

Delilah Schwartz A Poem about Beginnings. If there are no beginnings, no end, no story to tie the two together. There would be nothing. A hole, where a gardening of flowers, could be growing. Instead, nothing good grows there, nothing bad. nothing.

Maybe a thing that could grow there... regret. Regret, you plant in that nothing now something, wishing you made the decision to start a beginning, but now just regret. And you can never really go back. Maybe, no regret, not nothing, but pride. Pride you didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t start this beginning, that feeling of the right choice. Maybe, two feelings, both, maybe. None, maybe. More. Every flower has to die. every flower has to sprout, every flower has to bloom, but when a flower passes on a seed, the flower doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need to end, Before it starts, A new beginning.

Nolia Dorset When you think of me, what do you think? Girl? Friend? Stranger? Enemy? No, when you think of me you should think, Friend, Protester, Learner, Listener, Creator. We all strive to be something, To do something, To impress someone. We should all strive to be our own role models To set examples for the next generation

To be the next Jeff Bezos Or Coco Chanel Your own version of them We need to create We need to find ways to save our earth Our planet is dying And our president doesn’t care So, we have to Greta Thunberg A role-model A fighter A hero We should all strive to be more like her At least I want to She is smart She is hard working She is a leader She is. So, who are you? Who am I? Do any of us really know?

Enzo Garcia The Philosophy of Enzo Sangster Garcia Truth can set you free With great honesty You can bring forth A feeling of comfort Of care Of security And it can be spread everywhere A lie is deception A white lie is no exception The veil preventing the Truth from shining bright The truth will come out, though And that veil will disguise the truth No longer A lie isn’t always definitively bad, although a lie cannot be a good thing. A lie doesn’t always cause hurt, but it will always cause harm. Whether that harm comes sooner or later, it depends. When you lie, it can bring a person a sense of false comfort. Saying, “Everything is okay” when a psychotic robot is trying to kill your family is a lie, and the person the lie is told to, whether or not they believe the lie, will feel some kind of extra comfort. Which isn’t fair to that person. What will happen when they find out everything isn’t okay? Most likely, the result will be harmful to both you and the person you lied to. The person you have lied will be hurt and, not wanting to be hurt again, could stop trusting in you. A lie is never a good thing, even if you are protecting or trying to comfort someone.

Truth is The hidden bliss behind a lie Truth is A force that can create something live or make it die Truth shows A person the reality and the brutality Truth knows What can be revealed and how to And truth can Be the secret ingredient to a lie A person’s beliefs are often influenced but not created by the people around them, their environment and their identity. When I see someone or hear someone who feels that, for example, that being LGTBQ+ is wrong or sinful, I might wonder how they could feel that way. Their truth may be based on a religious belief or conservative values, while my beliefs are more centered on biology and that it’s not a choice. A lie is when a person or people say or teach or tell something with the intention to deceive, and they would know that what they are saying is not true. If a person is fed false information, and they believe that statement or belief is the truth, and they tell someone else with the intention to inform or educate, I believe that it is not a lie, yet not the truth. It is that person’s truth. What do you think? Are you honest, or a liar of the highest degree? What do you believe? Do you think what you said is true? Like the sermon sang to the pews Do you know it’s true? Do you honestly believe? Well, then tell everyone else your truth Because if you’re honestly lying Are you really lying? In terms of grammar and such Honestly lying Is an oxymoron Lying and cheating are similar but not the same. Cheating can lead to a lie and lying can lead to cheating. If you cheat on a test and say that you didn’t, that’s an example of how they can factor into each other. But while cheating is trying to get around something unfairly, lying is the act of telling people that you didn’t do something, something happened, something didn’t happen, saying anything with the intention to deceive. Lying isn’t saying something that you believe is true but you aren’t aware that it isn’t, it is saying something is true when you are aware that it isn’t the truth. If a person says something that they believe to be true but isn’t, it is much different than a person who says something they know is untrue but stating it as a truth or fact. The latter would be a lie. A half-truth is a potion Half honesty, half deceit With much or little emotion Bitter or sweet The degrees of truth are varied Mostly truth, mostly lies, half-truth, half-lie And the reality becomes convoluted Buried Half right Half wrong Half good

Half bad If something is half anything, what is it really? And if the whole of something is told Is it really whole? What won’t you tell? I doubt it’s nothing You have to leave out something Like a president sworn in Or a witness testifying They tell the whole truth, only the truth So god help them But the only thing they emit in their speeches Or their affirmations of what the lawyer is saying Is truthiness There is no whole truth because no one knows the whole story The whole perspective The whole idea The whole truth Telling that whole truth is hard Impossible But you must try But you can also Take the easy way Because lying is almost always The easy way to go about life It could catch up to you Lying is easy “Truthing” is hard To use a euphemism is like stabbing someone, but first dulling the blade. It’s when a person is too afraid to say what they actually mean by sugar-coating their statement or question. It really doesn’t help the receiving end, as it only makes the user of the euphemism feel better about what they are communicating. It usually dilutes the truth and makes something less bitter, while still hurting someone. Propaganda is using truth(ish) to its advantage, to gain political or social power. In war propaganda posters, that promoted war bonds, enlistment, and factory jobs, often depicted some form of “us and them”. In world war 1 propaganda, a giant gorilla often represented Germany, while a brave American man fought it. Some were even used to scare the population into buying war bonds and enlisting and such, like this:

Images like this, dehumanizing the enemy, helped The Allies defeat the Germans and other Axis. By making the enemy seem monstrous and evil, Americans became toxically patriotic, and Germany became the scapegoat for everything wrong in the United States. Propaganda is powerful, too powerful, using fear-mongering, symbols, films, dehumanizing images, and hate to promote whatever they are trying to promote. Though it can help war efforts and bring good, it can also incite hate, racism, even genocide.

______________________________________ Equity is being fair, just, right. Equality is the being of everyone having the same opportunities, rights, and social status. In a community - a country, state, town etc. - equality matters more. Although both are fundamental to social harmony, without equality, equity can’t exist. If all people aren’t equal in a community, you can’t expect that community to be fully equitable.

If you are born in a suburb in Nebraska to conservative, Christian, straight, cisgender, white parents with comfortable livings, compared to a person in Washington Heights to liberal, Muslim, LGBTQ+, non-binary, low income, Latino parents, obviously your personality and beliefs will be very different. Of course, this is a very extreme example, but it gets my point across. Different ethnicities and races have varied expectations and standards that you taught to live up to, and that heavily influences how you identify and what you do in life. Using myself as an example, I am Cuban, Puerto Rican, Italian, Scottish, Norwegian, Swedish, German, English, and my great-grandfather was born in The Canary Islands (Spain). I identify as white, but I could technically identify as Latino. Identity is based on race and ethnicity but race and ethnicity are based on your identity. If you identify as white, you may feel more affinity towards other white people. If you are a woman, in most cases you will be raised as a “woman”; cooking, cleaning, etc., and you may feel that all women should live that way. That may also be different, you may not wish that oppression of sorts on others, and you may fight it. If you are a man, there will be norms expected of you, yet not as much as women. And you may feel that women conform to those norms and all men should conform as well. What did you say to me? he said I said, Can I help? And now, what did you mean to say? Well, you said it anyway And it ain’t the intentions And it ain’t the reactions It’s what comes out And what a wise man, he said to me It doesn’t matter what you mean you see You have it thought through properly What you mean will not be found Until you say it aloud And it ain’t the intentions And it ain’t the reactions It’s what comes out It’s what come out What comes out What comes out What comes out What comes out What comes out ____________________________________________ A conversation between a grandfather and his grandson, sixty years from now: What is white privilege? It’s not getting second glances when you get on a subway It’s getting second chances when you don’t answer a cop’s question It’s not going to a school where the only lesson you learn is and why you are inferior to everyone else It’s not getting profiled as a thug It’s being the “credible” source Why is it? Because our founding fathers were white and they founded our country Why were they all white? Because all the black people were being stolen from Africa and being enslaved Why? Because they didn’t feel like doing their own work Why?

I don’t know… In a diverse society, like New York City, there are advantages and disadvantages to its diversity. An advantage is that everyone will have exposure to other cultures, although hate or alienation may fester under that exposure. So much exposure to so many cultures can create resentment. Naturally, people don’t like people different from them, and getting over those hurdles is hard, but the good weighs out the bad. As I said before, people naturally don’t like people who are different from them, whether it’s skin color, accent, height, age, gender, religion, ethnicity, even their names. It is confusing why, but it maybe because of our monkey ancestors. It may be ingrained in our survival instincts, that if something or someone looks or sounds different or unknown, our instincts are to run or something to avoid whatever it is that is different. Change doesn’t come easy. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, the people fighting for justice faced so much violence, hate, and some freedom fighters were even killed. It was like war, but only one side was killing and hurting. That conflict, although painful and ugly, was fundamental towards changing this country for the better. And though that fight did help the country so greatly, racism and white privilege are still ever-present in our everyday, and there are many more fights yet to be fought. In this society, full of norms and standards and expectations, it’s hard to know who you want to be or even who you actually are. You have to think about what will make you happy, not what other people want from you. To do this you have to forget about what everyone thinks and just do it. When you do this, you will feel liberated. It’s hard and I and a lot of people haven’t done it yet. A ruler with lots of power will often have all that power go to their head, and they may become tyrannical. They may start to think themselves indestructible, or greater than they actually are. Among the people they rule or look over, these behaviors can cause resentment. If a ruler has lack of power than they will also lack confidence, which will also cause resentment. Power is something great, but for an equitable society to flourish, it must be controlled, but not taken for granted. Political views. Religious views. Moral views. The perspective of a person is all it takes to determine how they react to conflict, whether political, religious, or moral. A person’s perspective is formed by their environment - the places and people around them - and the values that they were taught. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Be kind, honest, and loyal Don’t be afraid of others different from you Don’t hurt others for small things Help others Help yourself Don’t discriminate against someone on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, political views, age, body, or religion Learn from those different than you Learn from the mistakes of the past Learn from those the same as you Learn from yourself ___________________________________________

My Philosophy: The Meaning of Life for Me A song, words and music by Enzo Garcia I wasn’t one for talking I wasn’t one to judge And I would just keep running Try to figure out the opposite of love And I saw my reflection

And I saw my reflection In the wall Right is left and left is right It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t matter anyway Left is right, and right is wrong Still trying to figure out the opposite of love And I saw my reflection And I saw my reflection In the wall And I saw my reflection And I saw my reflection In the wall And I saw my reflection And I saw my reflection In the wall Part 2: I've seen reservations, no one dares to show up to I've seen the desperation, a man can bring to the world Gone, gone are the days of embracing Our father's, father's, father's land Come, come, the days of replacing Rebuilding, removing, regardless of I think I've started something I think I've won the day Oh, I wanna tell ya something Something everyday La, la, la, la, la, la, la Dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee Oh, woah, woah, woah Hey, oh, hey, oh, Hey, watcha wanna do now Hey, watcha doing now Hey, will ya ever see now That a man in love is blind He's blind

Zoe Stahl Sitting Under the Night Sky Sitting under the night sky Reading a good book I know that somewhere way up high There is a new way to look The tree above me has a nest In the nest there are some birds Life truly is a beautiful thing I think as I continue reading my book

Under the night sky Sitting under the night sky Counting all the stars The tree above me there is a squirrel The squirrel is holding a nut Life is truly a beautiful thing I think as I continue to read my book Under the night sky

Sungjoon Roh My Philosophy: The Meaning of Life for Me Am I happier than a dog? What do you prefer, being a human or a dog? Why? Dogs are always happy, aren’t they? Humans on the other hand, are complicated and more stressful. So, isn’t being a dog better than being a human? Do dogs know that they are happy? Who has more self-awareness? The dog or the human? Humans have self-awareness. Humans understand the meaning of many things like emotions. Humans understand the true meaning of happiness, but dogs do not understand the real meaning of happiness. Yes, dogs do feel happy, but do they understand that they are happy? Are they aware that they are happy? I think not. Our uniqueness to have self-awareness makes humans understand what we are here for. To make a better place in the world. Dogs are happy, but they do not feel they are happy. Humans understand their true feelings. Controlling your emotions plays a big part. Dogs can’t control them, they have to show their emotions. Dogs have to show their happiness by wagging their tail or making noises. They do what is more efficient for them. They show their every emotion. Humans don’t have to show my every emotion. Humans can also communicate it like saying that Humans am happy or saying what I feel. Humans don’t always have to express them or act them out. This makes humans different, and makes me unique from a dog. Humans try to make things better. Humans can learn and evolve new ideas, but dogs can’t do that. For instance, wolves or bears cannot use better strategies to catch meat. Both species learn, but the animals only use strategies that they are taught. In other words, humans have creativity. Dogs do not have creativity. They are simple. They

sit or do what their owner tells them to do so they can get what they want. For instance, humans can make themselves a bowl of cereal. Humans have the power to change how to pour the cereal. If humans used a spoon do dig into the cereal box, then they could tip the box over so more cereal would come out at a time. For instance, imagine the world 50 years ago, and imagine our world now. And now imagine a wolf community. Think 100 years back and then think about the wolf community now. There is no big difference since the wolves only know things that they are taught from their ancestors. Humans learn new and efficient ways to do things. Another thing the meaning of life is to make a better world. Humans evolve everything that they built. For example, in ancient times, our cars were horse wagons. Now, humans have modern cars, they even have solar paneled cars. The human race can make a difference. Wolves or dogs do not do this. They follow their ancestors' every path. Humans don’t have to follow their ancestor’s path. Humans are way better than dogs. Now that we know that humans have more meaning, why am I here? I am here in this world to make a difference. Not even a big difference, even a small one. It’s to make a difference whatever path I choose. To me, being actively engaging the world and making it better for me and others is my meaning of life.

Thomas Snyder “My Philosophy: Respect others to be Respected” There are many opinions on whether something is right or wrong in life. When I was nine years old, I had my first experience with a bully. What he said to me was mean and rude. I went home that day and asked myself if am I really what he called me? I told my parents what he said to me and they said ignore him he is just being mean and maybe there is something going on in his life that is leading him to this behavior. By listening to my parents, this gave me more questions about why he would bully me. The next day, after my parents talked to me, I thought I was doing the right thing by not saying anything back to him. He was wrong for saying mean and rude things about me. I can relate to ideas about tolerance and respect and how you can tolerate someone or respect them. I can tolerate the boy in my class who made fun of me because he is in my class and I have to deal with him. Therefore, I will tolerate him, but I don’t respect him for what he has done.

Esteban Ramos My Philosophy: The Meaning of Life for Me The meaning of life for me is to not take anything for granted. There are things that I experienced in my life that others may never get to get to. People are always making memes about turtles dying and how in 2050 they may go. I find that very saddening because there may be children in the future that won’t even what those. That may be a far-fetched example, but it proves my point. A way for me to not take things for granted is for me to cherish my time with my friends and my loved ones because you never know when that could come to an end. Another way is when I am gifted something, whether I like it or not, I feel like it is mandatory for me to make the person who I received the gift feels like they are appreciated. This project gave me a new perspective on things. It made me put much more thought into how I act. To be honest, I always put thought into my actions, but this project did a really good job of making me evaluate them.

A philosophy that I live by is to finish everything that I start. That it is important to me because it encourages me to do things completely whether it gets tough or not.

Tafari Gil My Philosophy: The Meaning of Life for Me The meaning of life to me is to live to the fullest you can. Do whatever makes you happy in life be the best you know you can be. Love yourself and those around you. Treat the people around you as well as you can. Also, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget to have fun, which is one of if not the most vital part to living your life to the fullest. I want to live my life to the fullest by doing the things I love and being with the people I love, for example, I love to play soccer, video games and read. I also want to be with my family and friends. Those things to me are what make my life happy. I also love to go places so I will do that in order to have a happy life. These are all things that make me happy. Other people have to do what makes them happy in order to have meaningful lives themselves. It also matters that you have a meaningful life with others, like your friends and family. If you make them proud and happy because you are a really kind person and always have their backs, then you would be considered someone with a meaningful life to them. If you have this kind of life for yourself and others, then you truly have a meaningful life.

Vella Carter The Meaning of Life for Me There is so much in my life that I'm grateful for and so many things that are meaningful to me. The meaning of life for me is valuing every minute and learning from them. It means to always take the moral high road, follow your moral code and always be who you are, not who other people think or expect you are. Life is believing believing in yourself and things. Family is a very big part of my life. Drawing is a big part of my life too. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a hobby of mine, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more important to me than other hobbies because I drew pretty much every day when I was little. It was my favorite thing and it still is. Life is also telling the truth, but caring about other people's feelings. It is being an upstander, not being a bully. My family means a lot to me. I always have the best time with my family and I am so lucky to have them! In My drawing there are two sides of the heart, the sides are New York and Maui. I drew those two places because they are both a big part of my life. New York is my home, I was born and raised there, but for me my real home is Maui. Its where I feel most comfortable. Where the ocean and the sun meet is my favorite place. I have been going to Maui every year since I was 6 months old and I will never get sick of going. This is the meaning of life for me. We only have one life to live, so live it the way you want.

Jack Sabbagh Sometimes in my life I have these mini miracles where something can go really wrong and it would go wrong, but it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. One time my brother and I were sledding and he was going really fast into a piece of wood, but he was spinning really fast too. He was spinning into the wood but he spun just enough to barely miss it by inches. It was really scary, but luckily, he was okay. While he was spinning, I did a little mini prayer, so I feel like there is a god and that he protected Jimmy in that moment. I feel like I am blessed and I am very grateful for all the stuff that my family has and I am happy to have it. I feel that if you treat people nicely and you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just leave them alone, then you will feel better for the day. It also helps their day, makes them happy and it is so easy to do. If you treat people with kindness, then they treat you the same way and it will make both of you have a better time. It will just benefit both of you and it will be a lot more fun.

Looking at the World from a Window in Bed-Stuy Anonymous Death Eternal peace Where everybody goes Heaven or hell Overworld and underworld Where we all go depends on or actions But nobody is perfect is when you die where do you go? Ask yourself Your mistakes do not make you Your effort to change make you who you are

Wall Street The market of corrupt The sales of the rich The place where dreams come to the end The place was up and down are the only paths The place where your death equals more money for other people The place where the poor can never enter The place where I don't belong The place of sorrow and luck

The Black Man in the Book, Part 1 The black man in the book is the gangster The king of the hood The man to start the fight The son that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t listen The person who has been scared by the violence The bad guy Or the homeless guy on the street

The Black Man, Part 2 The black man to change the world The man to save lives of millions The king of his world The son who never gives up The person who has been scared by violence Or the writer behind the mask

The Fight Club Two blocks from Peaches lies The Fight Club My people fighting for gang superiority Every Friday Bloody paint Anything on the floor is a weapon Cops let it happen 9 o clock is when it starts 11 is where the cleanup people come And no one ever knows Two blocks away from Peaches lies The Fight Club

School Shootings Rounds in a child Blood on the ground Kids under desk praying for their lives The parents crying only hoping for the best Teachers knowing itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the end Footsteps getting closer and closer Bam Screams from the other room A knock at the door and a open door A white teen angry but thought to be mental But let me switch that An angry black teen thought to be ghetto and forgotten and believed to be evil The skin color that changes everything

Police The men and women who enforce the law Or the laws they believe in In times like this what matters more truth or money Fame or loyalty To remember the people died and think of the lives you ruined The kids who see police and fear The mothers and fathers put in prison for actions they never committed The bullets being fired across the world The communities broken because of your actions The childhood i once had was scared after deaths of black people

The Court The court is the king of the ball Royalty are the Bed Stuy prospects The dunkers are the knights Jelly farms are the jokers The beats lead all of this But on top of all of this are the people who want to get better The people who wake up 4 am and play People with the will never to give up The people who put their teams on their shoulders The people who put their teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s goal before personal goals The people who are first to practice and the last to leave. Those are the people who are the gods of the court not a skill god but can become that.

TH3 Black Man (or Young Zu1u ) Check the rhyme The rhyme is the beat that you groove too The squad are the people that you know The rhyme is the song that you can never stop listening to The rhyme is the language of Africa The rhyme is what you live for unless your deaf The rhyme is the life source of the hood Brooklyn is the rhyme that I live on The beat is the bass The rhyme is the beat you groove too

Hood The hood is the place of life People sagging pants Ball is the one escape The hood is a dog fight of America Cop cars on every block Blasting rap and the drug trade are constant Everyone getting arresting at all times A bullet being shot always sounds like a firework If you stay up long enough you hear the wars right out your door Fights every Friday Beer bottles by the court Drugs on the sidewalk Red stuff on the fence and the floor Deli owners are the OG’s and the only safe place Farther to the middle you get the more ghetto it gets This is where I live, but hey, it could be worse

Jazz The music of the 80's The music I was raised on The brass and woodwind, truth, stories and just funny Created by white people then dominated by black people Modern and old The calmest music I’ve listened to. Frank Sinatra, Luther Vandross, Greg Porter, You all know what I’m talking about It says it on the top Yes, the things that say “Jazz”

Why? Why do I always get rejected? Why am I 5’3? Why am I black? Why am I writing this? Why can’t I afford Jordans (‘cause I don't want to lose money) Why am I on the green team? Why am I the king of defense? Why?

POEMS, INSIDE AND OUT Who am I? and other questions I have asked myself in the past… A poem by Enzo Garcia Am I bi or not? Am I white or Latino? Seemingly questions that can be simplified into other questions Well, who do you like? Just look at yourself, are you white or what? But it’s not just based on the answers to those questions, it’s figuring out what will make you happy Being bi or not isn’t just being attracted to someone, it’s the emotional impact that that decision makes Being Latino or not isn’t just about the color of your skin, it’s about the culture, and whether you feel attached to that culture Being who you are isn’t saying that you feel like being this or that, you are just this or that, and it isn’t deciding really, it’s realizing

POEMS Arabella Vaccaro Grade 8 Silence was violent enough to slice one in half I made it a weapon for my own protection It seemed like a good idea I didn't think it would hurt anyone but myself I didn’t mean to hurt you Didn’t want to hurt you I wanted to take it for you I wanted to be able to soak in the evil in the world for you Like I did the polluted air every single day I tried to show you what was in my head but you ran away Why did you have to run so fast? I couldn’t keep up I can’t I couldn’t breathe Hold on a second Let me catch my breath Was it too scary? I don’t remember filing the nightmares Or the memories What did you see why weren’t you speaking? Did you see things I couldn’t? That's impossible Why wouldn’t you let me hold you here with me? Why didn’t you listen to me? Was I not speaking loud enough? You said I was all you were ever going to need But I was nothing I felt nothing So you’re everything became starved And I had nothing to feed it I couldn’t Lair Why did you lie to me? You stayed a little longer Only for my pity which I didn’t even feel anymore myself I always loved the unlovable And if I was loving While not being capable to love How bad was I hurting myself? I was forcing something out of me I can’t remember It felt like molasses up my throat And salt in my eyes Is that what is was How badly Am I Forgetting? How badly have I

Forgotten?

Nightmares It started with a crowd A crowd of people with strong enough arms to hold that little girl up in the air Without her not having to worry about the drop Or the fall She was flying She was enjoying every memory in her head Every dream in the back of her eyelids That played on repeat It was warm out And the air was clean Until her dreams started repeating Every night Over and over again They became more vivid Like royal blue Or blood red And she started to wake up crying Each night She was getting older And her dreams started turning into nightmares The crowd went down to a group They held her a little lower to the ground She began to worry about the fall She began to wonder why everyone's arms were shaking She began to say her dreams aloud Tell them like stories At lunch everyone’s dreams sounded like pastel colors And the smell of freshly washed clothes There was no color to her dreams And they smelled like gasoline In her dreams she started scraping herself with her own broken pieces Everything started getting too real Everything started spinning Soon she wasn’t a little girl And she was older And that group turned into one person Who held her up with his two hands And he said to her “I promise you I won’t let go as long as you don’t too” But little did she know promises break like glass And he left And she let go And she fell She dropped that drop she's fear since she was a little girl Oh, how’d she likes to be a little girl again She lay on the ground with tears rolling down her cheeks They didn’t feel warm anymore It was like a movie scene It was like she was putting on a show People watching a movie Like the movies on the back on her eyelids

Wait Where did everyone go?

Generation Z I’m a mess Thank you to those who grounded me Those who held and surrounded me To the pillars who didn’t turn to sand To the people who made a space for me to land It’s ok Our world is dying slowly No big deal right we’ll just be gone in a hurry Because we're all not ourselves Getting pills off the shelves Of the drug store That now are used for nothing more Love interests used to be a gift for the new adolescent Now they are just turning into antidepressants It’s fine We all just need some time They say that’s all we need Let’s flip a dime Head’s we get up and will keep going far And tails Well sit and wait for the world to fall apart Families breaking apart become more common Because the feeling of togetherness is becoming more forgotten I’m alright More people are seeing the light It’s close in their sight And they have to right To give up when they please and no one is stopping them They just tell them to overcome They say our generation is a mess They aren’t wrong Now it is normal to be depressed They expect us to be strong Those who aren’t are rare So special and sacred Just because the scars on their wrists are faded No one is safe at this point There is always a chance That the floor below you will break And you'll be gone in a glance The parents are going crazy And the children are witnesses Until the drinking and the addition diminished Everything has a lethal dose The parents are drinking and the children are shoving Xanax down their throats And no one knows where it goes Because just like a rose they’ll get thrown away And like that pill bottle on the kitchen counter you're empty

Dreaming She wakes up like every other human being She can’t even open her eyes to see five inches in front of her It's always cold She’s always shivering so much her bones probably can crash together And break themselves Forcing herself to get the feeling back into her feet And step onto the ground Where electric shoots up into her head And she starts to see colored spots throughout the air Stumbling her way to the door It hurts to use her muscles Her arms Her lungs It hurts to breathe By the time she gets to the bathroom and look in the mirror She forgets that she’s stopped dreaming But she still knows deep down That if she were to walk into traffic She wouldn’t wake up She gets herself dressed with the clothing on the floor No food in her system as she walks to school People said she needs to lose weight She listened She obeyed She doesn’t pay attention to the light Her eyes aren’t opening all the way She's forgotten she’s stopped dreaming She makes it into the “safety” of the school All the words she hears goes through one ear Out the other Her lungs at this point are slowing themselves down People said she needs to smile more She obeyed She laughed She's robotic Doesn’t eat lunch Always the last choice when it comes to socializing The last real friends she could remember were the people in her dreams She goes home at the end of the day like everyone else She's not in a dream Makes it home where her parents are screaming At this point it is just background noise to her silence Staring at the wall for hours without thoughts running through her empty head Starts to see colors “Smile more” “Laugh more” “Lose some weight” “Why are you so quiet” “Why do you dress like that” She's had enough This night she wants to dream

She wants to live in that beautiful world where people smile for real Where she laughs for real That night was a long one But this time She didn’t force herself wake up This time She didn’t dream like she always did

Taylor Newman I keep silent. Because the words from outside are to harsh and violent. I keep silent. Because that’s just how it was meant to be, Really? I keep silent. But do I even have the right to live if I can’t thrive? If I can’t do anything that really makes me alive? I don’t keep silent. Because what outside could be that violent.

Lydia Bayko Smile Smile for the camera! The lie that is the happiness I present for other people has transformed my face. A mask that covers tear-streaked cheeks and bloodshot eyes. Say cheese! The dairy fills up my stomach and heart. The bile rises up my throat in an outburst of words regurgitated till they are not mine, but someone else’s. We can’t see your eyes when you smile like that! My eyes use blinds to cover up the tears of exhaustion. The snap of a camera, my face frozen in a lie forever. Pose like this! That’s all I’ve been telling them the whole time, that I’ve posed for every picture that they’ve ever wanted me in. Searching the catacombs of my memory for images, fragments of time when I wasn’t like this. That’s not my genuine smile, she tells me. It never is, her eyes say.

Kirsten Goulbourne Nike Dream Crazier If we cry people think we are crazy If we want to play against men were out of one's mind If we dream of equal opportunity insane When we stand for something were wild When we are too good there is something wrong with us When we talk back we get call out When we join a boys’ team we’re ridiculous And if we get angry we get hysterical A woman boxing, crazy A woman dunking, crazy A woman Coaching an NBA team, crazy A woman competing in a hijab, crazy Landing a double cork 1080, crazy Or wining 23 grand slams, crazy

You see what they have in common All done by woman Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy and crazy So if they want to call you crazy that's Fine. If they think your dreams are crazy show Them what crazy can do It's only a crazy dream until you do it.

The Power of Words Akeelah Lane The power of words Hands are not for fighting they are for writing Voices are meant for speaking up for yourself You should speak up for yourself and for your rights The power of words Guns and violence shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be in this world Guns and violence get you into jail Kids and people are dying from this situation There are gun shootouts on school We really need to stop this The power of words They can help you make friends ships They can sometimes help you get the respect You need They help you in life You should always use the power of words Not to hurt people but to encourage It is no use if you the power of words to hurt people You then are becoming a victim

Search for Identity Vella Carter Our search for identity isn’t always clear Sometimes we get lost in someone we are trying to be that our true selves disappear Others are identifying you That’s what their gonna do But the only person that can decide your identity is you Sometimes we have to put the pieces together to find our true selves Sometimes we need to look at things from a different view Some of us have no clue Some know from the start Everyone will find their identity someday Then they won’t be in the dark Alone and unknown with no identity to mark We all long to find or identities We all wait for that day That day we know who we are with barely any questions in the way

Forgiveness Ethan Weinstock How does it feel? To do something bad And then Be forgiven? To steal from your parents Candy stash Before Halloween And be forgiven? To hurt a friend by accident Even though it was Your fault And be forgiven To rip someone’s stuffy By accident even though It was your idea to play with them And be forgiven To get someone in trouble Even though you were the one That did the bad thing And be forgiven To break something That was very expensive

And even though you did that You are forgiven by your parents Why do we forgive? I have a thought It is because Every being feels absolution…

Not Too Quickly Isabel Gil We trust people so we can have people to talk to So we won’t be alone at times we need someone If we don’t trust people it’s hard to talk to them We can’t tell them things that we need to get out urgently And if we can’t trust others how will we live But if you trust someone too quickly They can hurt and betray you They took advantage of you Be careful of who you confide in Because they can stab you in the back As quick as you trusted them

Secrets Alya Lyne I told you a secret I had, thinking you could keep it. How wrong I was, all you did was leek it. This secret was inside me, needing to be let out. I wanted to scream it, I wanted to shout. I chose to tell you instead. Trying to keep my head. Little did I know how derailed it would go. I chose to forgive you, which is the greatest gift I can give. However, you backstabbed me, and told my secret again. I thought that this time would be different, but you took advantage of my kind dead. Told everyone my secret and left me there to bleed. You think I’ll forgive again, you act like nothing happened. You forget that I remember, all the hitting and slapping. My forgiveness is lost on you, for you will never appreciate it. I won’t even give you the option to take it or leave it.

Strong Julian Taylor Strong is when things get hard you don’t quit Strong is owning up to your mistakes Strong is fighting for the people who can’t fight for themselves Strong is standing up for things you believe in Strong is using your voice

ESSAYS: UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL Zoe Stahl Lyme disease is a condition that is transmitted into your body from a deer tick. The tick bites you and will suck your blood for around twenty-four hours until it is fat and full of enough blood. When the tick is sucking your blood, it delivers bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi through the bite, which is what causes Lyme disease. Here's 15 common symptoms of Lyme: When I was in nursery school, I was complaining about being dizzy. As I walked in the hallway getting something from my cubby, I got so incredibly dizzy that I fell over. I started to cry when I scraped my knee and couldn’t get up. Someone must’ve heard me cry because my old friend Avery came out and asked if I was okay. I told her that I fell and she got a teacher. When the teacher came out she asked what happened and I told her, then she asked if I could stand. I couldn’t. I was way too dizzy to stand. She went to get the nurse and later came back with the nurse. The nurse ran over with a wheelchair in her hands. I had no clue what was happening, so I went along with it without a fuss. At least, I don’t remember arguing… The most I can remember was the nurse bringing me into an ambulance and rushing to the hospital. I mostly remembered that because I was just happy to miss school. Over that summer the dizzy spells got worse so we started seeing doctors. We saw a heart doctors, ear doctors, infectious disease doctors - but nobody could figure out what was wrong. When I was in kindergarten, I really started to feel yucky. I had loads of stomach aches, dizzy spells, and I was always tired. I went to the hospital by ambulance. Then I had an MRI and a CAT scan. The doctors were worried I had a brain tumor. It was a very scary time, but the scans showed no cancer. Next, they were worried I had a disease called epilepsy. I spent three nights in the hospital with all sorts of devices hooked up to my brain - that's why my head is covered in bandages in those photos. Every time I felt dizzy, my parents would push a button so the doctors could check my brain waves. I spent one afternoon with strobe lights flashing at my eyes to see if they triggered a seizure, but they didn't. The dog in the photo is a dog that visits kids in the hospital to give them comfort. Then, they thought I had Muniere's disease but it has literally never been diagnosed in a child before so they decided you didn't have it. Finally, they wanted to do a complicated brain surgery on you to "see" if it would help, but my parents said no. After I left the hospital they decided you had a migraine disorder and gave me some medicine that I started taking, but the medicine made me feel really awful. By first grade I couldn't stay awake for an entire day and would fall asleep in class, I couldn't remember things that were told to you even a few minutes before and my brain always felt "foggy." I also continued to have aches and dizzy spells and collapsed again. Late that year I lost my appetite and then lost A TON of weight. I probably saw 30-40 doctors during the 2 1/2 years you were really sick and none could figure out what was wrong. When you started losing weight my mom met with a nutritionist who suggested a Lyme's doctor. That's when we met Dr. Gedroic. By the time we got to her I was VERY sick. It took two years for me to be truly all better. I had to have weekly IV's with medicine to make my immune system stronger, 60 days of antibiotics, and literally years of supplements and herbs and other medicines to help me get stronger.

Lyme disease made me lose some of the hearing in my left ear and has made it hard for me to process language that is spoken aloud, and for years you had seizures when I got dizzy from visual illusions or flashing lights or even roller coasters, but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m all better now and DOING GREAT!!!!

Making Decisions as a Young Trans Person Mac McGrath ‘Do you want to have children when you grow up?’ is a question that we, kids, are asked at some point during our childhoods. Most commonly, it’s a light-hearted question asked out of interest by a friend from school whilst playing mummies and daddies at lunch. If you think about it, though, it’s really quite a serious question. Partners ask each other this when getting further in their relationships, doctors might ask this to a woman during her check-up. What isn’t common, though, is to have to make the decision of whether you will ever be able to have biological children at age eleven. That's what I had to do. When going onto hormone blockers, the first step (for me at least) of my medical transition from female to male, and later hormone replacement therapy (HRT), you have to make the decision to either undergo a painful procedure called ‘egg harvesting’, or say goodbye to any chance of having biological children. This was a difficult decision to make at the age of eleven. I didn’t, and still don’t know what the future holds, I don’t know what my partner, if I have one, will want children, and if they would want biological children. There were only a few things I did know; however, I knew that I want kids, but they wouldn’t have to be biological, I knew that I don’t want another painful procedure, and I knew I did not want to delay hormone blockers anymore. I also knew that it is possible for trans guys to get pregnant. That is something I would never want, as the dysphoria it would bring would be unbearable, and putting that on top of pregnancy and childbirth? No thanks. Adoption, surrogacy and foster care seem to be the only ways that I can become a dad, and I’m okay with that. Being trans is not easy, there are so many decisions that young kids and teens have to make every day to avoid being bullied and to avoid dysphoria. Whether it’s choosing to bind their chest to make it look flat, or to go on life-changing medications, these are decisions that trans youth, and trans adults, are making all the time, and it’s made worse because the research isn’t always there. There is no information on the long-term effects of taking testosterone or estrogen. Gender-reassignment surgeries are expensive and often not covered by insurance, so trans people who want--no, need--these surgeries have to choose between being broke or being sad, and depressed. Being trans as a kid is a confusing thing, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. And although I will never have biological children, I still can be a dad, there are always options. Please know that not all trans people make the decisions that I do, nor should they. Making life-altering decisions at a young age is hard, and you need to grow up fast, but at least I don’t have to give birth. So even though my kids, if I have them, won’t be biologically mine, they’ll still be loved as if they were. Trans people can be parents too, and I will be one.

Some Trans Experiences Mac McGrath Often, when I tell people I’m trans, they don’t believe me. “You look like a boy!”, and “Are you sure?” are phrases said far too many times. Often people want proof, and as you can imagine, I never want to give them proof, as it involves very, very personal details. Twice I have had people demand to see, you know, there. Both of those times, the people were successful in their missions. The first time was when I was younger, seven, maybe eight years old and naïve. There was a swimming pool, a playground and a few restaurants in the village my school was in. Often there would be lots of kids from my class there, and we would swim, play and drink milkshakes together. The thing is, I was painfully gullible, and the other

kids would take advantage of me. All they saw was a short kid who was outed by his teachers, was--and still probably is--a teacher’s pet and who believed anything they said. They saw an opportunity. We had all been swimming in the pool and the hot tub and decided to take showers. There were about eight showers in the men’s locker room, half of them were covered in pubic hair and other substances, and there were five or six of us, so we took turns in the shower. When it was my turn, I stepped in, undressed and turned the shower on. Five or so minutes pass, I finish showering and am just getting dressed. ‘Mac?’ It’s one of the kids in my year I was playing with. I’ll call him Lee. Tall, dark and one of the ‘cool’ kids. Cool meaning, he swore, wore baseball caps and liked macho things like cars. I liked him, he was ‘nice’ to me most of the time. ‘Yeah?’, I reply in my squeaky voice. ‘Is it true?’ ‘Is what true?’ ‘You know, what Ms B. told us?’ Ms B was our teacher. At that school, we had the same teacher for all academic classes, so we spent a lot of time with her. When I joined that year, the school decided to out me. In the LGBTQ+ community, being outed is when someone discloses your gender identity or sexuality without consent. It’s often spiteful, but also can be done accidentally. During my first week at school, Ms D, the teaching assistant, took me for a tour during class. Little did I know, whilst I was looking around at the yellow, blue and green classrooms, Mrs B. was telling my entire class I was trans. I did not realize she’d done this for months. ‘Oh, yeah, it’s true,’ ‘Oh, wow, so… do you have one?’ ‘Have one of what?’, I was seven or eight and had yet to discover reading between the lines with things like this. ‘You know,’ he said, beginning to whisper, ‘a penis?’ I’d never been asked such a question before. I had no idea how to react. There is no ‘How to be Trans: A Guide’, and I didn’t know any other trans boys, I only knew my best friend’s sister who was also trans, but male to female. I was a guinea pig for my school, in uncharted territory. It was, for lack of a better word, hell. ‘Well, uh, well,’, I sputtered, ‘Well, no?’ ‘Ooh! Can I see it?’ ‘Uh, see it?’ ‘Yeah! I wanna see it! I’ll tell everyone you’re cool?’ All I ever wanted to be then was cool. Every person that I was friends with then was ‘cool’. After pausing for a moment, I say, ‘No! Of course not! That’s private!’ ‘Aww come on? Please?’ Lee says, and then he slowly pulls the shower curtain back. The truth is, I could have stopped him. I could have guessed that he would eventually try to open the curtain or peak over the top, but I didn’t. I think a small part of me wanted to let him see so I would be cool. So that I would be accepted--spoiler alert: I never was accepted--or at least not taken advantage of.

So he pulls the curtain back and looks down into my crotch area. Numb is the only way to describe how I felt. To have my privacy violated by someone I trusted was one of the worst experiences of my younger childhood. My hands fly to my crotch, but too late. He’s seen what he was after. I don’t remember what he said after that, all I remember is that I vowed to never let anyone violate me like that again. It was only a year until that vow was broken. The second time that this happened was at a sleepover at my best friend’s house. This time, it was actually a good friend, I’ll refer to her as A, instead of the bullies I had hung out with the year before. She, my friend, was accepting, and we were inseparable for three years. She lived in a home for people with disabilities about half an hour away from my school. Her mum was a volunteer who co-ran the home and was a single mother of four kids, two of whom had disabilities. The home was massive, incredible to play hide and seek in, great for running around and every time me and my brother, who was best friends with the youngest of my friend’s brothers, went there it was like Christmas came early. I had previously had dozens of sleepovers at A’s house, all of which were great fun. We’d pull pranks on her mum, which now that I think about it, was super mean because A’s mum was incredibly busy all the time. A’s mum was, and still is, a saint for letting my brother and I come and mess everything up every few weeks. We’d bake cakes and make a mess we’d never clean up. We’d play video games and watch videos, having the time of our lives. In the second year of our friendship, A made friends with the daughter of my Year 5 teacher (I was in Year 4 at the time). The daughter, who I’ll refer to as Em, was even more of a teacher’s pet than I was. She was the goodytwo-shoes to end all goody-two-shoes. She was the most rule-centric, school-devoted, arrogant, tattle-telling human I will ever meet. Now, being the goody-two-shoes that I was, I originally had no problem with her. After a year or two of her telling tales on my friends, and occasionally me, though, I was beginning to get annoyed. Outside of school, the few times I was with her, she was alright to be with. I’m assuming it was because there were no teachers to please at A’s house that she decided to break a seemingly small rule and invade my privacy. A had a pool at her house and we, A, Em, and I, decided to go swimming. We got changed into our swimming costumes, snapped our googles onto our faces and ran down to the pool. We jumped in, raced to the other side of the pool, I lost, and then began playing games such as sharks and minnows, or water tag. After spending an hour or so in the pool, we decided we would get out of the blazing sun and play inside for a while. We ran upstairs and began to get changed. Everyone else finished changing into dry clothes before me, I probably got stuck in my shirt and fell over or something. As I’m taking my shorts off, Em walks in the room. ‘Hey!’, I exclaim, darting behind the wardrobe and pulling my trunks up just in time to preserve my dignity. ‘Hi!’, she says, and then without warning jumps around the corner of the wardrobe and pulls my trunks down. She takes a look, then scurries off, her footsteps echoing down the white corridor. This time I was not numb. I was angry. Not just with Em, but with myself. Angry that I’d let this happen, angry that she’d done this to me, and angry that she’d had any reason to do this to me. I remember telling A’s mum and I remember her being furious. A’s mum was heavily religious, a Christian, but an accepting one. She was always supportive of people, no matter what they looked like, no matter who they were, as long as they were kind. She was always very, very supportive of my transness. I remember my dad finding out and being the angriest I’ve ever seen him. I remember wanting revenge. I did get my revenge, eventually. They, the school, gave us school emails later in the same year that Em pulled my trunks down. The thing is when they gave us school emails, they put our passwords up on the whiteboard for everyone to see. I saw an opportunity. I found Em’s password, memorized it, and formulated a plan. When I got home that night, I would get my mum’s computer, log in to Em’s email account, and send a vulgar email to our teacher from her email. In my mind, she’d get the blame, get in big trouble, and I’d be in the background, smirking, and cackling. Ok, maybe not cackling, but I would be happy. I do now realize this sounds like an evil plan, but I was yet to see how wrong it was.

So I got home, logged in, sent the email, logged out, and forgot about it for a few days. Then, whilst practicing with the choir for the Christmas concert, the headteacher, Mrs W., walks over and points to me. Mrs W. was an austere woman whom I was terrified of, for no good reason until then. I walk down from the bleachers towards her, racking my brains as to why I was being singled out until it hit me. The Email. I walk back to school with her, hands sweating and shaking, trying to formulate a good excuse for an idiotic crime. I walk into her first-floor office, a small room with white walls, a dark wooden desk and a large plant in the corner along with a few umbrellas. My mum is sitting in a chair next to the desk, she had been crying, I knew then that I was well and truly screwed, and remorse set in. Tears well up in my eyes, and threaten to fall. ‘I didn’t do it!’, were the first words out of my mouth, before I’d even been told why I was there. They had a printout of the email and my mum’s computer’s IP address. In other words, they had hard evidence linking me to the email I’d sent. Yet still I denied it. We went home, I hid in my bedroom and stared at a wall. My parents asked again and again why I’d done such a thing, yet still, I denied it. On Thursday, two days after I’d been called to the principal's office, my father took me to the police station. I denied it and denied it and denied it all the way to the police station, where in the car park I confessed. The police had the video from the webcam which showed my concentrated face staring determinedly into the computer screen. We drove home without even entering the station. My parents did not punish me, they could tell I was already punishing myself enough. They were correct. The mental beating I gave myself over the next few weeks was brutal, but it had an impact on me. I promised to always think through my actions and be kind. To this day I try and live by those rules.

My Camp and How I Met Two of My Best Friends Delilah Schwartz I have a decent number of friends, and some people say you can only have one best friend. But you can have as many best friends as you can have people who are really, really, close to you. A friend is a person you know and trust but there not that close to you. One of my best friends is a girl named Julia, and this is how we met I go to a camp called Chimney Corners. It is an all-girls camp, and (in my opinion) the best camp ever! It is located in the Berkshires and so is its “Brother camp”. A brother camp is a camp that is run by the same team and is an all-boys camp. Our brother camp is called Becket, my brother Mason goes there. Our cabin snuck into their camp as an activity one time. The other time I went to Becket was on Gibson weekend. Gibson weekend is the third weekend out of four when our parents come and visit. Last summer I was in Narnia. All the Intermediate unit camper’s cabins are named after fictional places. The senior cabins are named after legends, gods myths, and constellations, the Junior Unit is named after famous boats, like Santa Maria, Mayflower, or Noah’s Ark. Narnia is a fictional place from the story, the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It’s about a group of kids and they find a magic wardrobe that leads to a magical place, there's an evil queen who is forcing everyone under her control. Fast forward and the kids defeat the witch and become the rulers of the land, I haven’t read the book but I've seen the movie. My cabin mates were awesome. They taught me new things, showed my cool places, and we developed a really strong bond. Thea (one of my cabin mates) showed me how to quickly and almost perfectly part my hair. Tara showed me how to make an ocean style friendship bracelet, and Julia showed me her favorite place on campus. Julia is an awesome person, she is always kind to me, and is really funny. The thing that made me flip out, was that she was actually best friends with Su and Selin! We both liked the same general things. She loved Percy Jackson, but she didn’t love warriors as much as I did. She taught me how to make at least three types of friendship bracelet designs. On the first day we had a trust exercise activity, you we supposed to blindfold your partner and lead them to your favorite place on campus. Julia was my partner, and I took her to the waterfront because it was my first day and I hadn’t gotten to know the place well yet. She took me off the trail into the woods. During the trip, as I was blindfolded and got tired of getting hit in the face with leaves, I ducked down and ran straight forward, right into a tree, and yes, it hurt. We laughed about it and then continued. When we got there, I took of my blindfold and saw a perfect hide away by the lake. It was awesome. There were stepping stones leading at least twenty feet from the bank. There was a rock to sit on, a perfect place to rest and think. There were small fish and two willow trees hung above. I remember one time when I was sitting there, the lunch bell rang and I knew I would be late if I didn’t go then. But I didn’t move. I stopped. I thought for a second, why can’t I just forget it all? And don’t go? What will happen? I never answered my question. By instinct I got up and ran to the other side of camp. Julia had another friend in a different cabin. Her name was Ciara (See-AR-a). Ciara was in Julia’s cabin in 2017. When she introduced me to her, I will admit, I was kind of jealous. But after a while i got to know her and she was actually very nice. When I found out I would be taking the bus back home, I asked everyone if they were taking the bus back to New York. No one in my cabin was, but when i asked Ciara, she said she was! We were both super excited since it was my first year going home on the bus. And she had never had anyone to travel with. We watched movies on the bus and talked about our schools.

When I went home I told my mom and my dad about Ciara and Julia. But it turns out they knew the whole time that Julia was in my cabin. Somehow Su and Selin knew it too. I got kind of disappointed, but she was still my best friend.

In Honour of My Grandfather Zac Tucker What my family and I did for charity that makes me so sad, I hope the story will inspire you to give anything you can to charity, because every penny matters! Charity is a wonderful, giving to the less fortunate. It is very important to me because last year my parents and I started a project to create a hospital in the south of Israel, in honour of my late grandfather who was a doctor himself and invented what we use today for newborn deaf kids to help them. My grandfather served for Israel in the air force during the war and was based there, so it means a lot to me. My grandfather died at the age of 91 in South Africa. His funeral was very emotional for me and my family, especially my dad he was his son. That's why my family wanted to honour him by naming a hospital for him. We hope people will think of him while their child is being saved by his invention. The Sam Tucker hospital will open in the summer of 2020 and my family and I will be there opening it in the name of my grandfather. My parents and I have paid for everything and my other grandparents. Before my grandfatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death, my dad and my grandfather had a very complicated and strange relationship. They argued a lot and became farther apart but just before my grandfatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death, they made up and my dad, my grandfather and I went to the FIFA Cup Final with him and our team won 1-0. He was delighted, we dropped him at his house and a week later we heard the dreadful news and cried our hearts out. My dad felt guilty about all the years of disagreement and time not spent together. After my grandfather's death, his wife, my grandmother, Barbara Tucker, has stayed strong and this tragedy has brought everyone together. Now we all share the same thing, tragedy. My grandmother is so strong and I applaud her for being able to still live through this. I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t imagine being married for 60 years and then one is not there. From that tragic, but true story, I hope you can take positives from it and donate anything you can to charity. There are people out there in worse situations.

Going to See Hamilton Violet Friedman You feel it, the thrill of being there. As you walk in, you see shining lights and hundreds of people. The poster with the star… freeze… you’re frozen. Everything around you has stopped. You are the only one moving, jaw dropped. Everything starts to move slowly, back to reality. You need to get in, you have to wait. Excited but scared. What will happen when you walk into the doors of the theater. You have lived here all your life. Nothing seems exciting anymore, you’re bored with it. You have done all the things there are to do. Though it seems when you step onto the red carpets of the beautiful Broadway theater, you've never been more excited to be home. You go in a taxi and on a train. You're finally here. You step into the theater. This is where you want to end up, what's going to happen. Is it going to be good? Or is it going to be bad? It's gotten good reviews. Will you give it a good review? You question whether you would still want to end up here. Now more scared than excited. Keep going or turn back. Your choice. Life or death. You have to choose. You are walking to your seat. You see it, you’re running towards it. The big glistening stage. You can't go too close, you don't want to get in trouble. You go sit in your velvet feeling seat too antsy to stop moving. Close your eyes it's almost time, but not yet. Wait, wait, wait… Waiting... Applause starts, your heart pumping waiting for the curtains to open and for performers to start performing. The loud sounds of people’s hands coming together fills the big room with lots of noise, its overwhelming. you are one out of the thousands there. You feel like crying. You don't. Still waiting, standing up clapping. Your eyes pop out of your head. You are there, now you feel like it's only you and the musical. Music, lights, action, noises. It's exciting. You've been waiting for this moment. It's here. Not scared not excited, happy. You are here and it's amazing. This is where you want to be. Enjoy the show.

A Person I Don’t Like Lila Wattenberg A person I don’t like is someone who used to go to Calhoun. I was new in 5th grade and we became friends on the first or second day of school. She seemed really nice and I didn’t understand why people didn’t like her. After the first or second week of school was over, my mom got a text from her mom inviting me to her house in the Hamptons for two nights, and it made me uncomfortable. I had only known her for a short amount of time so I didn’t want to go to her house. My mom was also uncomfortable with me going, so we decided that she would respond and say that I was busy. Then her mom asked if I could go the weekend after that, and my mom said that she didn’t see any free weekends for me. After this situation, I felt weird. Then one week she was absent, and I sat with other people who were really nice to me and I enjoyed sitting with them. Then when she came back, she came to sit with me and the other people who I was sitting with. They weren’t happy and I wasn’t either because she was being really annoying. Whenever I hung out with other people, she would get mad at me, and eventually we stopped hanging out. Then my friend and I had to go to the Lower School Director’s office and he told us that we had to friends with her. We were really upset and we were thinking that if she wasn’t so mean, then we would be friends with her. The rest of the year went by, and I found out she was leaving Calhoun after this year. I thought I was never going to see her again, but then there was a super awkward situation when I was in 6th grade. I went to see a movie, and she was there because she had seen the movie right before me. I ran to the bathroom because I really didn't want to see her. She yelled to me, “You know you don’t have to hide from me!” in her annoying voice. I hid in the bathroom until she left the theater, and then I went to wait in line for the movie with my dad. Then she came BACK to the theater to talk to me. Her mom who is as annoying as her tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around and said hi. Then I hid behind my dad and he started talking to them because he didn’t want to be rude. It was such a weird situation and I felt uncomfortable. I haven’t seen her since then.

Club Getaway Bryce Washington This is about the bravest moment of my life. It's not a hero moment, but it did save my life, well half saved my life. I went to a place called Club Getaway and it has to be one of the best places I’ve ever visited. I learned how to actually play ping pong, because before I just tried to hit the ball with the paddle. I also met another kid named Hector who was 14. Even though he was older than me, he was shorter and my godbrother. I haven’t seen him in about two years because my dad had my half-brother so we had to stay with him for the summer. We basically played ping pong every day for the whole day. We roasted marshmallows and they tasted amazing! They also had a lot of activities at Club Getaway. My god brother and I wore wristbands that let us get as many drinks as we wanted. There was this drink called a mud milkshake and it was amazing. They were also a lot of bees and at the time I had a fear of bees, so when I saw them on the table where I was eating, I just ran. I eventually stopped and the bees weren’t chasing me. I was just confused. It turned out they were just flying around us not doing anything. We also brought this electric racket so when we would hit a bug they would die. My favorite thing to do was to grab my dad’s racket and hit all the gnats around the cabin that we were in, so it was cool. I was so scared of sleeping over at Club Getaway because at that time I was scared of sleeping without a TV. I asked my godbrother if we could use his phone to watch TV on YouTube since his phone could work without Wifi. We put his phone on the pole in front of us. After that I feel asleep quickly. I woke up in the morning and my dad and I went to the archery spot while my god brother was still asleep. I fell in love with archery even though I was terrible at it! There was this drink my godbrother always got from the drink stand. It was a Shirley Temple and I was always confused why he got it. It looked bad and I just never thought about trying it. He would always say< “You should try it,” and I would always say, “No, maybe next time,” and I never tried it. At the same time, he didn’t try out my drink so we did the same thing. When we go back next year I'll ask him to try out my drink and I’ll try his out. I will also see if Hector grew. I also know Hector’s voice got deeper because when I called him I didn’t recognize him at all. I just hung up the phone.

On the last day of Club Getaway we went on this activity called the Aerial Obstacle Course, ten feet in the air. It was crazy! If you looked down you would immediately want to get down. That's what I would want to think about. My godbrother said no as soon as we went to the top. My dad said the same thing and dropped all the equipment. The people asked me if I wanted to go to try out the obstacle course, and I just looked at them, fear in my eyes. Then I said, “I’ll do it.” They had these tiny lines and they said, “Go Across.” I tried my best to go across and I did it! I do that a couple of more times and then I was close to the end, but here was the twist - there are two ways to go. The first way is easier, but longer, and you had to do the rope thing again. You also had to do a part where the platforms shake and you had to rush it. I didn’t want to try to do that; it seemed too long. The other path had poles with sticks on it. The poles swung from right to left so you had to wait. This had to be the hardest thing I've ever done. On the last pole I said, “Finally!” but that wasn’t it. I fell. I was hanging on to the pole looking down. I was so scared! I looked fear in the eyes and I took a breath, then I swung myself onto the platform, hyperventilating. Then the person that was accompanying me on the aerial obstacle course said, “I told you to not go the hard way!” I wanted to punch the guy in the mouth.

A Time When I Forgot Who I Was and a Time When I Realized Who I Was, and the Person Who Helped Me Along the Way Enzo Garcia When I was born, I didn’t know my name. I didn’t know what my favorite color was, or what music I liked to listen to, or who or what those people looking down at me with smiles were. I didn’t know anything, anyone. And that was one time I didn’t know who I was. The only time. But it was different from the time I forgot who I was on a certain sleepover with my best friend. It only lasted a few minutes, but they were the longest minutes of my life. A confusion. Looking at myself from above as if I were god looking down on Adam & Eve. I was on a sleepover with Mac, and we were making music. It was late and I was a bit tired, and I spaced out. I remember listening back to our little jazz song we made, and thinking. Thinking about nothing, yet everything. Starting to convince myself that I wasn’t there, I shook it off. But it was an unshakeable feeling. I didn’t understand what I was feeling, or why I was feeling like I was. I thought I was having a mental breakdown. I had had existential thoughts before, but only swift thoughts, large at that, but small. After eventually convincing myself I was real, I somehow felt better after. Before I felt better I told Mac how I was feeling, the disconnection I had from myself in the moment. He said that it happened to him before. I believed him, but I’m not sure it was the same thing. I can never fully understand someone’s current thoughts with 100% accuracy. Though I can put myself in someone else’s shoes, it can paint a vague picture of what’s going on, but I can’t really know for sure. I can only assume, and assumption is never enough to know what is happening in someone’s situation, body or mind. In science, when creating a hypothesis, I do not know what is going to happen in an experiment. I can only guess, though an educated guess, still I am guessing do not know what will happen or what is happening. Not knowing myself is nothing new to me though. Since Mac has been my friend he has been helping me realize who I am. I know I confide in him, whether something small like my stomach hurting or something huge, like the uncertainty I had concerning my identity. We are both part of the LGBTQ+ community, and him being part of that community, and knowing that he would accept me, helped me come out to him. Coming out to him eventually lead to me to come out to my parents. He encouraged me to go to the affinity group, and I’m so glad I went, and am still going. There I can be myself, being surrounded by people I can identify with, and strengthen my pride of being bi and let my rainbow flag fly.

This essay, though the topics may seem to vary, is about one thing. Who I am. How I forgot who I was, how I regained my identity, and how I learned what my true identity was.

How I Created a Friendship and Then Ruined It Isaiah Kweku Mensah-Hinds Okay, let's go to the beginning; I've known Selin for about eight years. We meet in kindergarten. I don't know how, but it happened and we became bffs for a six-year period. Then 5th grade came along - now this was my famous bully year. I snapped and started making fun of my friends. First Sam, Bryce, Viraaj, all of my best friends. Then came along to Selin. It was a day six and the 5th graders had open gym. At the end of open gym was when it all went down. We were lining up to leave. I was lining up and, to this day, I don't know if Selin skipped me or I skipped her, but I threw her. I took both sides of her and threw her on the floor. Then Sadie pulled up and it looked like she was going to clock me in my head. I felt no remorse, and what I did then it hit me. At that moment, I knew I screwed up. I ran to 8M and cried for about an hour and then I tried to go eat lunch. I was heading for my regular spot, but one of Selin’s friends said something like this: “Leave us alone because you’re being a ****.`` In this moment, I changed into something - something I never wanted to be. I didn’t want the amount of anger that was welled up in this moment. Self-Hate, Anger, Pain, Regret, Sadness, and Weakness. But even after all of that, I couldn’t stop making fun of other people because of all of these feelings. It doesn’t end there. After that day all of my friendships became slim. The tension was in the air, you could cut it with a knife. To be truthful, if I could go back in time and slap some sense into my 10 year old *** I would. Now today, the anger that happened on that one day still resides within me, but I can control it. I was either always mad or also pissed off about something I have no temper that shows now, all because of one day. To Selin

The Time I Felt Out of Place Emily Vidal I was sitting on my bed thinking about what to wear for my first day of school. I liked the outfit that I chose and so did my family. After taking multiple pictures I was ready to leave for my first day in 6th grade. I didn’t know how to get there, so my sister had to take me and I had to remember what she told me to do. She said, “Get on the 2 train to 72nd Street and then take the 1 train one stop.” I was so confused, but later I got used to it. While I was walking, all I could think about was, “What if no one likes me or what if I get bullied and they’re all mean?” I walked in the school not knowing what I was going to say or how I was going to act. I went up to the third floor not knowing where anything was. I was so paranoid and I thought everyone was staring at me. I went to my cluster and at the time I had no idea what that was, so when Hannah said, ‘’Go to your supercluster. Your cluster advisor is Irene; she's in area 311,’’ I was so lost. Instead of asking anyone where anything was, I just kept walking around until I found my area. I felt so stupid because I knew no one and waiting around was really awkward. I finally went to my cluster. I was just sitting there and the worst thing happened. My mom came in to give me my bag. I was so embarrassed and everyone could see it. Then Irene said, “Let's play a game!!” I was so upset about that because they were all staring at me and I didn’t know what to do. We went around, said our names and we were supposed to memorize them. I had the worst memory of all time and I was nervous, so that didn’t help with anything. When it was my turn to say everyone's name I completely blanked. I had no idea what anyone's name was and I felt so alone and helpless. I think that was the moment I really started to understand that I was in a new school and I couldn’t do anything about it. A couple of days later I made three friends and I thought that we were destined to be best friends, but all of a sudden, they were whispering to each other about stuff and they wouldn’t tell me. Back then, all I could do was endure all of it even though I hated it. While they were whispering, all I could think of was my old school and 62

how I never really had any friends in my grade. I knew people from the younger grade but not in my grade. I never really had any best friends. Back then I really wished they would let me into their friend group, but they never did and I just felt like I had no one to talk to. I didn’t think anyone would want to talk to me because I was new. Now you can’t really tell, but I was really shy last year. Honestly all I wanted was to get to know everyone as fast as I could so that they would accept me. That didn’t happen until this year, but I’m just glad that it happened at all. Last year I would have done anything if people would have just been my friend, but I know that you can’t force people; you can just hope for the best and see what happens. I’m glad that this year people don’t hate me as much as they did last year, though sometimes I can be seriously annoying. So, thank you, Calhoun, for finally giving me a place to belong.

GRACIE Jack Sabbagh When I was in second grade, I had a little puppy. That puppy was supposed to be a miniature teacup Yorkie, but she ended up being just a normal one. It ended up being a good thing. My mom named her Gracie because she said if she had a daughter she would name her Grace. Gracie was a very energetic dog and I remember not knowing that I was coming home to a dog and then seeing her in her little cage. She was only a few weeks old and she would drink out of an adorable little sipper water bottle (which is one of the things that guinea pigs drink out of). I ran straight to her cage and she started licking my fingers through the little hole. I played with her for a few hours and lay next to her. Then my brother got home and he was just as happy and surprised as I was. My brother and I had asked for a dog and begged to have one, so this was a big surprise when we actually got one. Gracie was a cool dog because her breed had a very long life-span of 13 - 16 plus years. Gracie wasn’t just any dog, though. She was so kind and she would chase us around and lick us all over. During the night was the most memorable ever because I would play with her and we had so much fun. Then, as time went on, she would help all of us when we were sad and she was so smart. Sometimes, when she was at my grandma’s house, Gracie would go to her neighbor’s house who would leave their door open. She would just walk right in, steal a toy, run to my grandma’s house and scratch the door to be let in, as if to say, “Come on! Before she notices!” Then, when she turned three years old, she started limping. My mom thought nothing of it because she might’ve hurt her leg, so she would just carry her when they walked. She kept limping, though, but it was summer and my family was on vacation. She was limping for over a month because my family went to Lebanon for a month. Judy, (the person taking care of her when we went on vacation) would take her to the hospital without telling us. Judy was nice and she loved Gracie, but she was a little too careful with her. Gracie, about a month later, she wouldn’t be able to stand up or do anything without crying. My mom took her to the hospital many times and we found out that if she didn’t get better, then she had arthritis. This was when Gracie was four years old. We got very sad, were very worried and kept taking her to the hospital. Then they told us this. “Gracie has a tumor in her spine.”

Gracie weighed about ten pounds, which was very overweight for her breed and about three quarters of a foot long. A week later my mom drove me to school with Gracie in the car and she was throwing up and pooping all over the place. I finally arrived at school and did the day normally. I got back in the car at the end of the day and my mom told me the news, Gracie had passed away. I didn’t cry at that moment because I had been suspecting that this was going to happen. I cried at night and for the rest of the year. She was like a little sister to me. She was my biggest loss, but before then, she was my biggest gain.

My Mother Monte Greene My mother is an incredible woman. To be honest, there are times when I ask myself how she made it out My mom has had one of the roughest lives I’ve ever heard about. She has been through so much. She doesn’t like to tell her story, but I think it needs to be heard. I admire my mom for all she’s been through and how she came out. She worked so hard and did so much to get me in a good school and to try to make my future better than hers was. My mother is one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. My mom lived in the South Bronx until about the 1990’s, which was one of the hardest neighborhoods to live in at the time. Gangs everywhere, apartments buildings burning next door, gunshots every hour, vandalization all over the place, thugs on their doorstep, and more. She started going to school by herself at the age of eight because her dad was too busy working as a police officer and her mom was too busy having episodes. My grandmother had schizophrenia and over the past 10 years, it had gotten so bad that people couldn’t talk to her without almost getting stabbed or spat on. She was diagnosed when her dad died in her arms a couple years before my mom was born. My mom was bullied at school but that didn’t stop her from being the smartest kid in class. She went on to skip 7th grade and went straight to 8th. She hated her school because they would beat the kids with rulers on their knuckles. My mother never misbehaved because her parents would beat her if she did. She wasn’t allowed to talk back, suck her teeth, roll her eyes, or make any disrespectful hand gestures. My grandmother once locked my mom in a room from the outside and she had to sat there for around a week. My grandfather would sneak food in for her when he came home from work. She didn’t go outside of that room and I don’t know how she got to use the bathroom. My mother got beaten by her own sisters sometimes. My mom wasn’t a fighter. She was always the smart one who made the best decisions. My mom had two younger sisters. My Auntie Andrea had her first kid at 16 years old. She loved to pick fights when she younger though. She would roam the streets looking for fights and my

other aunt was the same way. My mom’s cousin would come over and beat up my mom too. All the siblings were kind of bullies to my mom and sometimes my grandfather had to pull them off of each other with a broom. They were also very poor. Sometimes they had to eat sandwiches without the meat because they couldn’t afford it. They were eating hamburgers with pita bread and hotdog buns. Her house burned down a couple years later and that was a couple years before she had a baby (my sister) with an abusive man at the young age of 19. She eventually ran away from him with her daughter. When they got a new place to live, my sister and my mom shared a room with a twin sized bed for a couple years. Later, my sister started acting up and doing really bad things. She ran away from home all the time and she started doing drugs and smoking. She dropped out of high school and didn’t finish her education, still, to this day. She stopped drugs after a while but she still smokes cigarettes. A few years later, my mom met my dad at her job. They became best friends and then they became more than that. They ended up having me because my dad wanted to be a father for so long and my sister at that time was pregnant and was about to have my niece, Ava, at 18 years old. My mom finished her studies at Columbia University. She had me after she finished school. She went back to school a year before to get her graduate degree. I was born when my mom was 39 years old. The first time I saw her cry came after all this happened. It was at her graduation. She came so far in life and graduated from an Ivy League school on a scholarship. I think I was three and it is the first thing I remember in my life. The way she just started crying was moving and powerful. I remember running over to her and giving her the biggest hug. I had no idea why she was crying at the time, but I still hugged her and she always tells me that story. That is the first time I ever saw my cry. It’s a time that I will never forget.

My Parents Ethan Weinstock My parents are the most special people in the world. I doubt there are others like them. As an only child, they give me all the attention I could ever want. They are always there for me. They play with me and they support me a lot. They feed me, get me clothes, entertain me, and do so much more. My mother is a gastroenterologist at Mount Sinai Hospital and takes care of me when she gets home. She is very good at her job, so if I have any stomach aches, she knows what to do. She is an amazing cook and she is also a very good baker. She is also 60% pescatarian. She only eats meat if I really want it or if she really wants it. My favorite food she makes for me is her pancakes which are so fluffy that they surpass pillows. She is the best mother I could have ever asked for. My father is an advertising executive. He works hard and when he’s home we hang out on the couch and watch TV together. He is also a very good cook and a good baker as well. He recently went 80% vegan. He only eats meat on special occasions. His specialty is these pancakes that are a little tougher, but very tasty. My father is the best father I could have asked for because he cares about me and always takes care of me. He also takes me to very interesting and beautiful places. The reason my parents are so special is because they always work hard and care for me. They are also really kind and patient and they do everything in their power to help me. One time, I was having trouble sleeping, so my mother made a dream catcher that actually worked. I didn’t have bad dreams after that. My dad also found a way to play ocean sounds through my Alexa in my room. Whenever I need help with my homework, especially if its math, my father is there to guide me. Sometimes though, I get a little annoyed and I start getting frustrated. But I try to be flexible. Whenever I nearly forget homework, my parents are there to help me. Sure, I get in trouble, but they still help. My parents are the best, and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the whole universe.

How I’d Spend a Million Dollars Esteban Ramos I am going to be honest. If I got a million dollars, I wouldn’t behave the way that you would probably expect me to. I would not go crazy and start buying quite literally anything that I thought of. I would be a responsible individual and invest in important things like my education. This is how I would spend a million dollars. First of all, I would invest $325,000 into a college fund. The reason why I am investing into my college fund is because when I grow up, I want to go to a good college, where I can learn and become an all-around scholar. To me, that is a pretty important investment because it deals a great amount with the future education. Another purchase that I would make would be for me to buy a $500,000 house in a gated community with a neighborhood watch for my family and I to live in. I would do this because it is important for my family to feel as safe as possible and since I would be able to afford to put them in an environment where they can feel that way, why not? After spending $825,000 on two pretty important things, I would be left with $175,000 to spend freely. The reason why I am choosing my money to invest that way is because I feel that they mean the most in my life. I am investing in my education and I am investing in living status. I don’t see what could go wrong with these investments. It is not like I am spending what would most likely be lottery money on random things. With the leftover money, I would spend about $25K-$30K. On top of that, I would donate $5,000 to a pet rescue. I would do that because deep down, I have a true love for pets. My donation I would help save many animals and that makes me feel like that would be a use of money well spent. I would save $145K that I would have left. It’s always good to have some leftover money. For example, once I turn 18, I would have a decent amount left.

I put a lot of thought into these things. It took me awhile to finally decide on what I would buy, but I think that I made the right choices.

Hair on Fire! Viraaj Sarwahl I thank God I am here today. When I was three, I had a day to let God choose if I could live or die. The day this happened was almost doomsday for me. I thank God for sparing my life and giving me another chance. Friday, July 15, 2009, the worst day of my life. I was home trying to have a peaceful day until the event happened. For a three-year-old, it means you do not want to cry. When I woke up from my 10-hour sleep, I was energized like a bunny, with my long hair covering my ears, wearing my Doraemon pajamas. I ran straight to my grandpa with so much joy. My grandpa always took care of me when I was three. He was a grandpa I always asked for. When I ran into his arms, he smiled and hugged me so hard that I thought I would faint. I noticed my aunt making tea in the kitchen for my grandpa and grandma. As a three-year-old, I was naturally curious, so I touched every single thing I saw. Then I climbed on top of the marble counter in the kitchen or at least tried to and sat down. Even though I didn’t know what tea even was, I was a very curious 3 years old, so I was intrigued by everything around me. Sitting in between the stove and the sink, I asked my aunt for milk. “Ma Ma Ma Ma milk.” She handed me milk in a baby bottle. After I drank it, the milk left a white mustache on my face. At that moment I was intrigued by the blue flame that came out of the stove. My aunt must have said something like, “Be careful!” Well, that didn’t work. I moved closer to the stove and then BAM! My hair was on fire. All I heard was crying and screaming, crying from me and my little brother. Screaming from mom, dad, Aunt, Dada, and Dadi. I kept hearing my aunt repeat in Hindi over and over a prayer to God.

My mom came running into the kitchen. I remember her calmly looking around for a bucket to fill with water. She couldn't find it. She thought of another solution, filling the bathtub with ice cold water and dunking me there. She did. It was very hard to breathe. My mom said, “Oh God, please don’t take my son away from me.” There was even more screaming and panicking from my WHOLE FAMILY. It took about three minutes to fill up the tub. Normally it takes ten. We have this pipe system that we control that had three times the amount of water from my three bathrooms. This came in handy. After the bathtub was filled she grabbed me from my legs, holding on to my feet. My head was facing toward the floor so she wouldn’t get hurt. It smelled like a tire being burned. She then slowly put me in the bathtub and then my hair was no longer on fire. A decade later I am not scared of fire like I used to be. I went through a period, around age three to eight, when I couldn’t be near fire or I would freak out. Then when my dad taught me how to make tea, I realized it wasn’t so bad and that I could deal with it. This was one of the toughest and scariest things that has happened in my life. I have learned that FIRE IS NOT A TOY. I definitely learned my lesson. I thank my mom so much for being there for me and taking care of me. I know it must have been very stressful and scary for her, She had a chance of losing her older son. She is the hero of this story and I am thanking her because I wouldn’t be alive today if she didn’t react so quickly. This is like a legend in my family. It gets told to me over the years. This was all about my curiosity concerning tea. I still make tea today for my relatives. A great saying is, “Curiosity kills the cat.” Thankfully, it didn’t kill me.

SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA Beatrice Barnsley Somewhere in America kids are scared to attend their own school because they are worried they will lose their own life trying to get an education Somewhere in America, someone is struggling but no one wants to talk about mental health Somewhere in America, a girl is skipping breakfast, she is wearing leggings today Somewhere in America, a black teenager is behind bars for life because of drugs while white rapists run free Somewhere in America, a girl is scared to walk the parking lot to her car Somewhere in America, a boy is abused by his father for being gay Somewhere in America, politicians are in the pockets of corporations who have billions Somewhere in America, a girl comes out about her sexual assault and is called a liar Somewhere in America, a corporation dumps more chemicals into other peoples’ homelands Somewhere in America, someone has to wear a sweatshirt every day despite the heat Somewhere in America, people are fighting for change Somewhere in America, people have hope for change

Katherine Sushko Somewhere in America A kid is sitting at home trying to cover up the bruises and scars before school Somewhere a kid is hiding the pain in just in hope it will get better Somewhere a kid is holding a knife, ready to say goodbye

Somewhere in America A girl is being told to lose weight Somewhere a girl has an eating disorder Somewhere a girl is being told to gain weight Somewhere a girl is being told she can't dress like this or that because it shows a yes Somewhere a girl is getting held after class for her clothing showing her shoulder or having ripped jeans Somewhere a girl is being told to wear more makeup Somewhere a girl is being told to wear less makeup, go natural Somewhere a woman is being paid less for the same work Somewhere in America A kid is skipping class to do drugs because it’s “cool” Somewhere there’s a high school party Somewhere a kid is selling drugs to feed his family Somewhere a kid is being pressured Somewhere a child is being shot while texting their parents that they love them Somewhere in America A boy is told to take off him makeup Somewhere a girl is being told to dress more feminine Somewhere a couple is told to break up just because they are the same gender Somewhere people are trying to fix a child because there sick Somewhere in America Someone is a someone

Esteban Ramos Somewhere in America, a young black teenager can get killed while only carrying a bag of Skittles, while the white man’s excuses are taken for bible. Somewhere in America, words are believed to hold more danger than guns. Books are banned instead of weapons. Somewhere in America, you can shamed and killed for loving a certain gender. Somewhere in America, your skin color can affect your ability of getting a job, hailing a cab, sometimes even eating. Somewhere in America, people are realizing that kindness may be the key.

Callen Murphy SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA, people worked so hard and died for us. The spoken words, they speak to you more You realize that this is the truth, WAKE UP Maybe the written words boar you But watching the video, this world has to clean up If we couldn’t speak, it would be hard Just like how people used to work late and hard Maybe people in America should stop swiping their cards

And maybe thinking about how lucky we are to even have a backyard People now don’t even think about how lucky we are to be able to talk We use words every day, we go crazy, in basketball if someone gets a big block When the time runs out, we use words, “no, why can’t we reset the clock. It just shows how we use words like it’s nothing, people worked so that we are able to talk When the girls in the poem talk or even yell, it shows you what people went through When the girls in the poem talk or even yell, it shows you that we have to wake up When the girls in the poem talk or even yell, you realize they did so much, we don’t have a clue When the girls in the poem talk or even yell, you realize their power

Thomas Snyder Here in America we have racism and judgements of people of different color and we all are humans here so what is the big difference of their skin color. White people discriminate against them when there is a car pulled over the white cops use more aggression on black people then on white people and people always think of black people as gang members or just bad people in general. Somewhere in America there is a shooting and people expect it was a black man but most of the time it is a white mentally ill kid who no one expected to be the shooter. Why are people afraid of black people because most of the violence in this country is by white people and not by black people. Somewhere in America there is a black family enjoying dinner and the waiter asked them to move for this white family because the white family sitting nearby didn't want a black family near them. Again, why are the white people afraid of the black people.

Emily Vidal Somewhere in America there are people dying at what are they doing there sitting in the white house doing nothing. There talking about building walls instead of doing what they need to be doing. They need to step up their game and help the people who are in freaking need!!!!! I wonder how D.T (Donald Trump) would feel if he was on the street, homeless. I wonder if he would help them. I want him to one day have no money and live on the streets for a day so that he would know how they would feel. Somewhere in America there are young and old women being raped and no one is doing anything about. There just being silent because there ashamed or they’ll think that people won’t believe them. I think that us as a city, a state, a county, a content, a nation as people who live in such an amazing world should be able to create an environment where people aren’t scared or nervous to tell us that they were raped or worse. I want the people in the country to be able to care and help for each other even if you don’t know them. I know we can do it if we try but it will take time and a lot of it at that. Another thing is that there are so many homeless people in the world. Everyone just ignores them thanking God that they weren’t in their place.

Harper Dorr Somewhere in America Our people are dying Men women, and children are struggling to live Every day people are being hurt, and killed We are sending our people to jail for crimes they did not commit Hearts are being broken while children are taken away

Earnest words forgotten Rapists are getting away while the doctors are being arrested Eternal light Incorporations are ruining our environment Never saving our world Arm are holding children tight begging to stay with them Millions of people making our world run never recognized Engagements, broken Rights are being taken away Islands are sinking Cars are polluting our world And still our home

Kirsten Goulbourne There is a child in my neighborhood holding a gun There is a child staring in a gang There is a child being in a gang There is a black person who died There are the police doing nothing There is the family not getting any justice There are the cops coming to my neighborhood When a white person gets shoot There are the gangs selling their product out In the open and nobody is stop them There is the police department making All these promise that they are not fulfilling There is a shooting every day There is them selling their drugs There is them making their drugs There you are inhaling the smoke from their cigarettes There you are scared for your life There you are thinking Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m i going to die here There you are thinking I need to get home before 8 There you are thinking of what would happen if I went outside at night There you are thinking is my family going to knock on my door Or the police go to come and say I am sorry they died

Vella Carter Somewhere in America Kids are being bullied because they are different or weird While the bullies are the ones afraid to show their true selves Somewhere in America teachers are sending kids to detention for not doing well in class When the student is up all night, crying Somewhere in America Mothers are struggling to take care of the family Somewhere in America thirteen-year-olds are taking care of their families. Somewhere in America girls are getting raped, but they are too afraid to tell anyone, they canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t escape Somewhere in America

Kids are scared of their teachers, scared of speaking up Kids are scared of standing for what they believe in because they don’t want to stand out in the crowd Somewhere in America teenagers are using drugs while some are made fun of for not. Somewhere in America families are falling apart while others are “perfect” Somewhere in America, a mother has cancer Somewhere in America a mother can’t afford Chemotherapy Somewhere in America Teens are going to jail While others are going to Yale Somewhere in America kids are whining about not wanting to do homework while some kids have a dream, to go to school, but they can’t. Somewhere in America, people are taking action and doing their part to help people while others are sitting on the couch eating potato chips. Somewhere in America teenagers are going to parties Somewhere in America teenagers aren’t even allowed to leave their house. Somewhere in America, a person is dying somewhere in America, a baby is being born Everywhere in America Everyone either struggling or thriving Everyone has fears and hopes We all have to be grateful for what we do have and not obsess over what we don’t.

Lydia Bayko Somewhere in America There is a teen snuffing out their cigarette on their hand. Somewhere in America, There are people begging on the street for money, but there are too many fakes to tell which people are hungry for food or hungry for heroine. Somewhere in America, There are children who don’t have electricity for months because their parents use the money to buy drugs. Somewhere in America, There are video games promoting shootings, murder and arson. Somewhere in America, There is a person etching love letters into their own skin. Somewhere in America, Children are manipulated and abused online by adults, hidden behind a screen of technology. Somewhere in America, There are people shrouding themselves in smoke and mirrors for fear of hatred.

Ethan Weinstock Somewhere in America, A child is being bullied Just because he likes something Other people don’t Somewhere in America

A child is being scolded by a teacher or a parent Because of something their friend did but blamed on him Somewhere in America A child is being punched Because she told the truth And didn’t lie about it Somewhere in America A child is struggling Because people keep harassing him In the halls Somewhere in America A child is picking up his lunch Off the floor Just because he doesn’t like something else Somewhere in America A child can’t play her flute Because someone trashed it But she got in trouble instead Somewhere in America A child must steal Because he has no money And his family needs the food Somewhere in America A child is yelled at Just because He was holding a banned book Somewhere in America A child is hurt Just because Of how he looks Somewhere in America A child is judged Just because She looks weird Somewhere in America Someone is hurting someone Just because They like someone Somewhere in America Someone is being punished Just because they failed a test Because someone stole their papers Somewhere in America A child is in a hospital

Because he doesn’t play football And likes to write Somewhere in America A child is hated Just because He is from a different country Somewhere in America A child scared Of the next day Because of how much he is bullied Somewhere in America A child is arrested Just because of How she looks Somewhere in America A child is hurt Just because He wouldn’t do someone else’s homework Somewhere in America A child decides That no matter what They will change the world No matter how much they are bullied No matter how much they’re yelled at They will take a stand

Mia Rauceo Somewhere in America a Tv is airing a news clip of a man who got beaten up or shot. I don't think I need to tell what race he’s not. There’s a kid sitting by an open window on the thirteenth floor. Deciding if life is worth living if you don’t have anything to live for. Somewhere in America a girl is being dress coded for her skirt being too short, while a guy is walking around with no shirt. Somewhere a girl is getting a higher grade because the teacher likes the way she looks. Somewhere a woman is making half the amount of a man, that sucks. Somewhere in America a thirteen-year old girl has a treadmill and a scale in her room trying to lose ten pounds by the end of the week. While in a different part of America a mom is giving her child her food because there too skinny and weak. Somewhere in America a boy is staring longingly at a box of makeup wishing he had the nerve to wear it to school. While a girl is wishing she could not wear any and still be cool. Somewhere a guy is looking into his closet and seeing all the clothes he hates, but wares to fit in with the crowd that awaits. Somewhere else in America a girl is eyeing the skirt she’s wearing in the mirror, wishing the guidelines of how she should dress would disappear.

Somewhere in America there’s a school teaching about how Christopher Columbus was a great man. Somewhere there is another book ban. There’s a smart kid getting bullied, and a sporty kid on top. I wish this classic movie drama would all come to a stop. Somewhere in America half the kids at school joule. There’s an underage drinker at the bar acting cruel. Somewhere a child’s dealing drugs, while others painting mugs. One kid’s getting high, while some other kids try to stay of drugs, while everyone else is not. Their moral compass is all they’ve got. Somewhere in America a lot is going on. Somewhere in America something has gone wrong. All that we can do is damage control, while we wait for the bad things to catch up with us, and do nothing at all. Violet, Somewhere in America Somewhere in America there's a little girl being taken away from her family. Somewhere in America people are getting shot for no reason 113,108 people are shot alone every year People are getting killed Women 509 are killed from a male partner Somewhere in America There is a war going on and people are being refused the right to start a new life. Somewhere in America there is a wall being built to keep people out when we are supposed to let them in Somewhere in America that little girl is in a home where she knows no one Alone Scared Somewhere in America there is no one helping Some try All fail All give up No more fighting No more fighting No more fighting More fighting Somewhere in America

Gibson Hope Somewhere in America People are suffering Somewhere in America People have no food Somewhere in America People have no home Somewhere in America Kids are working Somewhere in America Kids have no food

Somewhere in America Kids have no home This is not right. Somewhere in America People are helping Somewhere in America Kids are helping Somewhere in America Everyone is taking a stand This is right. Take a stand.

Frieda Katz Somewhere in America a person committed murder for fun, A girl is taught by the man who raped her best friend. A child gets pulled out of school for their colour and religion, A smart child’s poverty gets in the way of them living a life, A student gets taught to fear theirs mother’s religion,, A mum wonders will her kid comes home today with bruises or hickeys, A student has to write two essays for school tomorrow while working night shifts and living under a bus stop, A pregnant teenager is kicked out of her home and has nowhere else to go, A baby is found under a fire station with a note saying ‘I can't’. A kid can’t afford glasses so he does his SATS while blind. A teacher tells a 5-year-old how to add two numbers together but that kid has to figure out for themselves how to run away from gang groups at 3am. Somewhere in America a child grows up not knowing any of these things existed. We need to open our mouths and educate the uneducated. Teach the learners. Help the victims.

Su Ongoren Somewhere in America Children shoot guns out of hate or for attention People die from anti-Semitism, racism, sexism and peoples hate for others Somewhere in America People need help but it never comes

People die out of hunger or illness and people show no sympathy Somewhere in America This Country claims freedom but books are banned and confiscated from kids and adults alike everyday As hate seeps deeper into the fabric of this country But to too many it is invisible Somewhere in America Girls and Women are raped everyday But 49 of 50 rapists walk free To ruin someone else's life And to destroy women's rights Somewhere in America Bias installs itself Making way for the rest of the pyramid of hate to come forward To hurt and kill more people And America is still called perfect Somewhere in America Immigrants are held in detainment centres Where hunger and disease run rampant Where the death toll gets higher and higher And they claim that this is alright It will never be right Somewhere in America Children are desensitized to killing Children are told to hate people of certain groups That hate stays with those children and then it spreads Somewhere in America Countries request aid It is not given Instead hateful words are said and no one speaks out against it Somewhere in America People are told to be confident While fat shaming is still extremely common And that confidence is destroyed Somewhere in America Girls are shamed for dating boys Girls are killed for rejecting boys Somewhere in America Guns are being fired And corpses fall to the ground But books are gone and guns are not Somewhere in America Girls are told that they have to be thin In a world where girls and women are shamed for their looks every day And barley anyone cares

Somewhere in America We are told that America is the example of perfect When from the beginning there was always oppression It has not stopped Somewhere in America The environment is not at all cared for Saplings are stamped on And forest destroyed But nothing ever changes Somewhere in America So much wrong So much hate So much destruction So much abuse So much murder So much pain And no change

Kali Hageman Somewhere in America a girl is celebrating her 13th birthday by going out to dinner with her mom and dad. Somewhere in America another girl is celebrating her 13th birthday by working. Not everyone has the money or the resources to even get one cupcake on their birthday. Let that sink in. Somewhere in America a child is about suicide because the kids at school are bullying them every. Single. Day. Somewhere in America a little girl is starving herself because someone at school called her fat. She is losing hair, and she passes out every time she does anything somewhat sporty or physical but as long as sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s skinny. Right? Somewhere in America someone is getting killed because they are not a Christian, white male. Somewhere in America there are three girls standing up for what they believe in. And they inspired me and many others.

Elias Yahya Somewhere in America There is someone struggling to pay the rent for a small apartment Somewhere in America There is someone forced to be homeless and sleep in the street Somewhere in America

There is someone joining a gang to get money for his single mom Somewhere in America There is someone committing suicide because of bullying Somewhere in America There is someone sleeping in his car because his dad kicked him out Somewhere in America There is a kid going into a van for candy and never returns Somewhere in America There is a guy getting shot because he wasn’t white Somewhere in America His dad dies because of the police Somewhere in America This is all happening!

Max Anderson Somewhere in America Somewhere in America there is a kid eating out of the Trash can because they have nothing else to eat Somewhere in America there is a kid eating a A steak covered in 24k gold Somewhere in America there is a kid buying 50 thousand-dollar shoes while his mom buys A new Gucci purse “Somewhere in America there is a kid Searching through his school’s lost and found Because he can’t afford a coat to wear” Somewhere in America there is a girl 13-year-old girl in an alleyway getting raped by a 40-year-old man Somewhere in America there is a kid Who has never eat anything other than fast food In his life Somewhere in America there is a kid Fighting another kid with a Knife Somewhere in America There is a mom crying because Her son got shot at Parkland High School Somewhere in America her I am

Isaiah Mensah-Hinds Somewhere in America kids are shot for being colored Somewhere in America shots are fired every day and people are dying Somewhere in America drugs are being given to kids Somewhere in America parents are leaving and never coming back Somewhere in America kids have no rights to speak up Somewhere in America lies are being spread. Somewhere in America kids are committing suicide Somewhere on earth injustice happens for no reason and nobody will stop it Don't let your insecurities get the best of you, help kids out all around the world so they never have to experience this. Don't be a bystander do something with your life and do it right.

Jack Sabbagh Somewhere in America Guns are sold everyday Somewhere in America people shoot anyway Guns are sold if you have a permit Only in some places If you have a gun you have the power Irresponsible or not Something will get hurt with it Whatever it may be A person, a bird whatever you want Somewhere in America Innocent people are shot all the time Could buy a fatal weapon if you have enough dimes Books that do nothing are banned in some states Somewhere in America The schools segregate Somewhere in America People get drunk People flunk Bodies get put in a trunk Somewhere in America Someone gets followed So easy for someone to follow someone So easy to hurt someone Somewhere in America The government is corrupt make the worst laws Very abrupt Somewhere in America A child might bawl Parents pay more attention to families Who have nothing at all

Somewhere in America People are helping Somewhere in America Kids are helping Somewhere in America Everyone is taking a stand This is right. Take a stand.

Nolia Dorset Somewhere in America a girl’s getting raped Somewhere in America a boy’s getting away with it Somewhere in America, an old man is torturing a little girl Somewhere in America, she's too afraid to say anything Somewhere in America a girl’s getting bullied for her weight Somewhere in America a girl doesn’t go to school because she’s too self aware Somewhere in America a mom is struggling to pay her bills. Somewhere in America a mom is struggling to not take her pills Somewhere in America a mom is deathly afraid of failing her children Somewhere in America a mom is struggling to keep a roof over her child's head Somewhere in America your struggling Somewhere in America you should ask for help Somewhere in America you shouldn’t be afraid Somewhere in America you need to speak up Somewhere in America You Have the Power.

Abby Keller Somewhere in America There is a girl afraid of what her father’s reaction is going to be on her report card. Somewhere in America There’s a school sports team going to a championship Somewhere in America A school is teaching students that Christopher Columbus was a “good man” Somewhere in America There is a teacher asking why his students’ homework is in late but the kid is trying to explain that his mother is sick and he needs to work and extra job to pay for the medical bills. Somewhere in America A child is worrying about school supplies because the family can’t afford it. Somewhere in America

A girl is being judged for being pregnant but she was raped at the age of 14. Somewhere in America There is a child trying to ask to let them stay with their parents, but social services won’t listen and now there in the system. A man is being accused with murder but he didn’t anything wrong but he is now going to death row. Somewhere in America A girl is standing on the roof of a building and questioning if her life is worth it. Somewhere in America A girl is driving 18 hours just get an abortion because she was raped and her state doesn’t allow her to get an abortion Somewhere in America The government is thinking banning abortion and gay marriage but when someone asks about gun laws they say laws don’t work they find a way to use guns. Somewhere in America Somewhere in America Somewhere in America…

Su Ongoren Somewhere in America Children shoot guns out of hate or for attention People die from anti-Semitism, racism, sexism and peoples’ hate for others Somewhere in America People need help but it never comes People die out of hunger or illness and people show no sympathy Somewhere in America This Country claims freedom but books are banned and confiscated from kids and adults alike everyday As hate seeps deeper into the fabric of this country But to too many it is invisible Somewhere in America Girls and Women are raped everyday But 49 of 50 rapists walk free To ruin someone else's life And to destroy women's rights Somewhere in America Bias installs itself Making way for the rest of the pyramid of hate to come forward To hurt and kill more people And America is still called perfect Somewhere in America Immigrants are held in detainment centres Where hunger and disease run rampant Where the death toll gets higher and higher And they claim that this is alright It will never be right

Somewhere in America Children are desensitized to killing Children are told to hate people of certain groups That hate stays with those children and then it spreads Somewhere in America Countries request aid It is not given Instead hateful words are said and no one speaks out against it Somewhere in America People are told to be confident While fat shaming is still extremely common And that confidence is destroyed Somewhere in America Girls are shamed for dating boys Girls are killed for rejecting boys Somewhere in America Guns are being fired And corpses fall to the ground But books are gone and guns are not Somewhere in America Girls are told that they have to be thin In a world where girls and women are shamed for their looks every day And barley anyone cares Somewhere in America We are told that America is the example of perfect When from the beginning there was always oppression It has not stopped Somewhere in America The environment is not at all cared for Saplings are stamped on And forest destroyed But nothing ever changes Somewhere in America So much wrong So much hate So much destruction So much abuse So much murder So much pain And no change

Elias Yahya Somewhere in America There is someone struggling to pay the rent for a small apartment Somewhere in America

There is someone forced to be homeless and sleep in the street Somewhere in America There is someone joining a gang to get money for his single mom Somewhere in America There is someone committing suicide because of bullying Somewhere in America There is someone sleeping in his car because his dad kicked him out Somewhere in America There is a kid going into a van for candy and never returns Somewhere in America There is a guy getting shot because he wasn’t white Somewhere in America His dad dies because of the police Somewhere in America This is all happening!

Lila Watternberg Somewhere in America, people are in danger. Hiding from their fears, and from the people who are out to get them. Somewhere in America, parents are worried. About their kids, about their safety. Somewhere in America, there are people starving. They need food. They need money. Somewhere in America, people are living on the streets. They are cold, hungry, sad. Somewhere in America, there are people who are sitting there, wondering if their mom or dad will ever come home from the war. Somewhere in America, people are sick, but they can’t get the help they need. They just can’t pay to get what they need to survive. Somewhere in America, there are animals facing extinction. They know that they won’t live for much longer. SOMEWHERE EVERYWHERE IN AMERICA, PEOPLE ARE SITTING THERE, NOT CARING ABOUT ANY ISSUES OUTSIDE OF THEIR HOME.

Zac Tucker Somewhere in America every day 85 people are shot And 61 of them are suicides What does this tell about our nation? Somewhere in America Black males are 15 times more likely Than white males to be shot and involved in gun Assaults and injuries Somewhere in America Every month on average 52 women are shot dead by their partners Everywhere in America This needs to stop