Sally Mao, winner of the Young Authors' Scholarship

Sally started writing poetry in the 5th grade and is currently a senior at Monte Vista High School. As she told her English Department Chair, "Expressing myself is one of the more refreshing things about being in school."

Here is the first paragraph from her story "Paralysis":
"When I was a boy of ten, every drop of sweat amounted to only one dream: to go to Tokyo and find my older brother Tokumori. With this dream came the hope that Tokumori, by then a celebrated combatant, would accept me under his wing—not as a brother, but as a capable student. He left us seven years before, when he was fourteen, without even a scrawled note or a leather boot. His dreams and this village of rice paddies and sun-baked foreheads were so incompatible it was like fitting a river into a teakettle. So, seven years ago, sick with the fever of summer, my older brother disappeared as wild pollen vanishes on the wind."

Jose Gilberto Martinez, co-winner of the Irving Hochman Scholarship

Jose is an immigrant from Mexico finishing his senior year at Eastside College Preparatory School in East Palo Alto. "I am really proud of where I am from," he told us, "and I am proud to mention that I am an immigrant, who had to leave his home to start a life in a foreign country that he didn't know anything about. I am glad that I came to this country, because moving here has given me the opportunity to face the struggles and injustices of life, and has shaped me in a way I had never realized. Thanks to all of the good and bad things I have gone through, I have become a responsible and mature person, and I look straight forward instead of complaining about the past."

Amanda Wolffenbuttel, co-winner of the Irving Hochman Scholarship

Amanda has been described by one of her teachers at Balboa High School as "a student whose sense of community, intelligence, and creativity has positively impacted her classes and helped define the very culture and tone of her small learning community." Amanda has taken her education seriously by learning English, enrolling in AP courses and looking toward college. "I will be a first generation college student that is very motivated to be the pioneer for my family and future generations."

Rosa Chan, winner of The Nathan Jillson Scholarship

Rosa, a senior at Balboa High School, speaks three languages: Chinese, Portuguese, and English. "When I was five years old, " she writes, "I was translating every kind of document for my parents." Before moving to the Bay Area, Rosa lived in Sao Paulo, Brazil for fourteen years, where her parents still reside. Her advisor at Balboa told 826, "I see Rosa ready and motivated to face the new challenges and open doors of what college can provide."