Congratulations to our winners!

Monica Sanchez, winner of the Young Author’s Scholarship

We were blown away by this young author’s talents. Monica has always maintained a distinct passion for the written word and since her sophomore year of high school, she has taken classes with the San Francisco Arts Commission’s WritersCorps. Her writing has manifested in many different forms: essays, short stories, plays, newspaper articles, and poetry. Mary E. Cerutti, Monica’s Honors American Literature teacher, describes her literature responses as “sophisticated, original and adult in both concept and execution.” Her superior articulation and wit shines through in all of her pieces. Monica understands the importance of education, and has been inspired and uplifted by some fantastic educators in her life, and therefore plans becoming a teacher after college. She will graduate from Immaculate Conception Academy this spring.

Here is an excerpt from her essay “Domestic Arithmetic,” describing her stress when she must use math to figure out a restaurant tip, and her subsequent lifestyle adjustments:

To this tipping quandary, I once thought that take-out was the solution. Traveling to the establishment, placing my order, paying for it (with exact change), and then leaving with plastic bags full of Styrofoam goodness in tow, seemed to make for a peaceful and anxiety-free evening. No gratuity with which to reckon!
Then, I realized that the patience demanded for the task of “take-out” is rather, well, rather demanding. A container of chow mein is a precarious thing to eat while walking home, weighed down by the hefty burden of my dozen-or-so other to-go dishes.
This is why, for the past week, I have been eating only ice cream. A cone is an easy strolling companion. I am using my youth to ward-off hardened arteries and lactose intolerance, while I tinker nightly in my kitchen, dusty from non-use, blindly teaching myself how to cook. After just three days, I have learned how to make boiling water. I’ve graduated to ice cubes. I have tremendous growth potential!

Pedro Perez, winner of the Irving Hochman Scholarship

Pedro moved to San Francisco from Mexico when he was sixteen years old. Despite such an abrupt life change, he has flourished as a student at Mission High School. He writes both beautifully and thoughtfully. Chemistry teacher Derrlyn J. Tom describes Pedro as “one of the few students who demonstrates an amazing determination and work ethic. He is extremely articulate and loves to learn.” Pedro understands the importance of teaching and tutoring for students without access to educational help, and plans on devoting his life to helping others read and write. Additionally, he has become a passionate public speaker, and hopes to publicly advocate the causes of disadvantaged immigrant students who have recently come to the United States.

Here is an excerpted monologue from his play, “September 26, 1912”:

Eliot: I am a religious man, as are most Irish immigrants. I cannot compare our life now to what we left behind. Since we arrived in America, we have found something better than Hell. However, as a father of a ‘newsie,’ I see inequalities that make this worse than heaven. I can see Joseph as a gospel singer, singing and asking the House of Representatives, Congress, and President Taft to make public education available for everybody. Where are the principles John L. O’Sullivan used to talk about? The United States, supposedly the greatest nation, cannot provide its new citizens with public education. I also see my son writing a lot about these issues in his diary, most of the time scorning politicians, their crimes, and their glories, because they use Jesus’ own words to hide their corruption. I do not want my son to become like them. I think that Joseph’s concepts about life won’t change unless I, as the head of the family, start directing his life towards truth and being a good man.

Charly Uc, co-winner of the Nathan Jillson Scholarship

Charly has succeeded academically, and fully integrated himself into his educational community despite many hardships. Charly has helped tutor students at several different San Francisco public schools in order to afford these students the opportunities he knows first-hand are necessary for immigrant students to succeed academically. For the past three years, Charly has worked with the Summer Math And Science Honors Academy at UC Berkeley. He has taken his commitment to this program even further by acting as a SMASH scholar, giving numerous presentations about the impact of the Academy on his life. Irene St. Roseman, director of the Academy, describes Charly as “a young man who is civic-minded, family-oriented and supportive of his peers’ academic pursuits.” Charly is an exceptional young man, and we congratulate him for his achievements thus far and look forward to hearing about all of his future endeavors. He’ll graduate from Mission High School this May.

Here is an excerpt form his story, “Back at Home”:

I woke up, my body dripping with sweat. The sun was up high, bright and giving it’s strongest rays. With my sweaty hands I reached into my pocket for my cell phone. I got that phone after my first semester at Berkeley.I needed money so I ended up getting a part time job, which helped me save money and pay all my personal expenses. As I dialed the numbers, I felt warmth inside of me, the warmth that I used to feel when my mother hugged him. I was shaking because of the emotions, the memories, and the happiness of hearing his voice once again. I wanted to talk to Alex really bad. I called his house, and his phone rang; once, twice, and the third time someone picked up. It was his mother; her voice was the same, soft, so extremely soft that it would tickle my ear with every word.

Sophia Villaseñor, co-winner of the Nathan Jillson Scholarship

Sophia is an amazing young woman with a huge heart and a great dedication to her education. She’s volunteered at local churches coordinating meals for the homeless, she’s a tutor and mentor to younger students in her school community, and her positive outlook despite many roadblocks is truly inspiring. She has a passion to succeed in college, and to become the first person in her family to graduate and go on to a professional career.

From her personal essay:

My passion to help people has been implanted in me through the many years of family and friends that have been here to guide me, feed me, love me, and what sets me apart is that someone’s love saved my sister and I from an uncertain future. I am reminded of this everyday that I see homelessness, drug addiction, and violence in my neighborhood. I love my family and my people and, I only want the best for my community. I want to give back what was given to me.