Writing of
October:
Seniors
First Place: Ariana
Robinson
Second Place: Chervanté Thomas
Third Place:
Manfred Jean-Louis
Honorable Mention:
Angela Acocella
Mecca Best
John Carleton
Cassandra McCubbin
Shannon Toone
Newscasters, parents, and shoppers anticipated Hurricane Irene like an impatient 12-year-old boy waiting for the new “NBA” 2K12 video game to come out on Xbox 360. News Op Irene was all over every news and weather channel. I’ve never seen a hurricane in New York. I didn’t think much of it. Besides, hurricanes need water to cause destruction. Unlike Manhattan, Mount Vernon was safe. Still lacking knowledge about hurricanes, I sat down to watch Channel 12 News. People were frantic.
The Thursday and Friday after warnings were announced, ShopRite was a madhouse. I stood exasperated at my cash register, tending to paranoid customers panicking because batteries were sold out. Customers fought over the last flashlight, and the shelf of candles was almost bare. I caught glimpses out the window of the ShopRite truck, knowing it was bringing shipments of Poland Spring water. Customers stocked my register’s belt up with hordes of food, canned goods, cookies, crackers, bread, peanut butter. The lines of customers trailed down the aisles as they stood waiting to check out. It was the busiest I’d seen ShopRite since its grand opening week. Was it really that serious?
Exhausted from working two extra hours on Friday, I came home and threw myself on the couch.
My mom’s eyes were glued to the weatherman gesticulating around a map of the East Coast. She had cancelled her flight to Atlanta. Every hour more flights were being cancelled. People in Virginia and North Carolina died from falling trees. Many states were flooded. I was getting scared.
The night before the hurricane was scheduled to hit Mount Vernon, my family slept downstairs in the living room. My mom, cautious about the tree in our backyard, feared it might fall into my room. I slept sound through the night, and woke up to weather I love. It was raining. I opened the window and felt a cool breeze. The leaves on the trees rustled and tiny drops of rain blew on my face. I took a deep breath. Where was the hurricane? I’d seen thunderstorms more deadly. Strangely, I was disappointed.
As the day went on, I realized that I wasn’t disappointed that Irene never came. I was grateful – grateful that the mass hysteria hadn’t come true, that a natural disaster hadn’t destroyed where I live as it had other places along the southeast coast. I smiled and wondered what my customers did with all those batteries.
Second Place: Parents’ Favoritism by Chervanté Thomas (Grade 12)
One question that will probably always be left without a concrete, proven answer would be: Do parents play favorites among their children? Personally, I feel that this is a good question. But I don’t think it can be answered generally. I can only speak from personal experiences of being a daughter.
My mother isn’t blatantly biased. It is not obvious that she prefers my brother over me, or vice versa. I feel the relationship my brother and I share with our mother is like that of a balance scale. It’s mutual. She has her likes and dislikes about both of us, which she doesn’t hesitate to express. However, I was the first-born. For seven years, I was the only child. Despite what anyone tells me, I believe there is a special bond and profound love between a mother and her first-born. Being the oldest definitely has its perks. At times more privileges are granted. My mother and I sometimes share a grave conversation about situations my brother wouldn’t understand at this stage in life.
In contrast, though, being the older sibling is also pressuring. A lot more is expected of me.
My mom gets stressed out at times when she has to tell me to do chores or other things. I understand where she is coming from, but then again, I feel as if I am constantly being nagged about little things I don’t find important. When my mom and I don’t see eye-to-eye, I tend to feel that she favors my brother’s personality. Even though he may also get on her nerves, he’s only nine, which makes it more understandable and tolerated. I believe favoritism is also a factor when my mother is already upset about something. It seems as though I’m a target. Maybe I have a daughter’s way of thinking that this is favoritism when it could simply be parenting.
Children always quote the expression, “I won’t be like my parents,” which is what I think now. In actuality, it seems as if those children grow into mirror images of their parents when they finally have kids of their own. I’m pretty sure there are households that display a great deal of favoritism. However, I feel all parents praise or find one child’s personality a little more appealing than the other’s, whether they admit it or not. In the long run, I’ll probably resemble my mother to an extent. I won’t show my fondness for one child openly, but there might be a particular child I share a greater connection with, whatever the reason. I guess this is a question that will always have to be left undecided.
Third Place: Parents’ Favoritism by Manfred Jean-Louis (Grade 12)
In my opinion, parents always play favorites, especially my parents. It doesn’t matter how many times they say they don’t. It is clearly evident, through the gifts, favors, and punishments.
For example, I have two younger sisters, one seven and the other five, and a 14-year-old brother. When my brother and I were as young as our sisters, we were treated completely differently. Whenever we wanted something, we never got it. My brother and I always wanted Power Ranger Action figures. Every day we would come home begging and crying. My brother even had a tantrum. Instead of getting us the toys we wanted, we were either ignored or threatened with being beaten.
Today, whenever my sisters want something, they get it. Every day I come from school to see new toys on the floor. I always ask my mother where they got them, and she will say she bought them. The living room is full of princess dolls and play dough. They make a mess with all their toys, but never get into trouble. I don’t ever remember them getting beaten.
My parents let them do as they please, especially my youngest sister. It’s as if she has magical powers: she just smiles and she gets what she wants. And if that doesn’t work, she just throws a tantrum. For example, my mother and I went to Toys-R-Us for my brother’s birthday. My youngest sister came along. We were looking for a specific video game he wanted. Then my sister saw a dress-up Cinderella doll. She turned to my mother, smiled, and asked if she could have it. My mother clearly said no, but of course my sister doesn’t take no for an answer. Out of nowhere, she started screaming and crying. She was making a scene. My mother had no choice but to get the doll. Worst part: we didn’t get my brother’s gift – we got the doll in place of it. We had to get his gift the following week.
In conclusion, I believe most parents in the world have favorites. All I know is that I will not have favoritism when I have my children. I will treat them all the same: “no excuses.” If they ever accuse me of favoritism, I’ll show them I don’t play favorites. I’ll use my grandmother’s ice cream trick: each person gets the same amount of ice cream. The thing that is different is the flavors.
Writing of
October: Juniors
Second Place:
Elise Morris
Honorable
Mention: Melissa Alvarez
Amanda Heredia
Ken Robinson
Kareen Suckoo Marcus
Young
First Place:
.Dreams
by Elena Reis
(Grade 11)
I’m considered to be the “odd ball” of my family, because six out of ten of my dreams come true. They found my Godzilla dreams to be hilarious. But when I started to have dreams of natural disasters, they began to be scared. One dream they were very curious about was my plane crash dream. My grandfather thought I was making it up, and my sister thought I got it from a video game. But I know what I saw, and I knew it was something I’d never seen before.
It was January 13, 2009, and I went to my cousin’s house for lunch. I remember this day perfectly, because she lived not too far from LaGuardia Airport and I sat on her balcony watching the planes land and take off for about three hours. By 4:30 p.m. the cold was starting to get to me, so I went inside to take a nap. That’s when all the craziness began.
My dream started off with me sitting down near the top of the Empire State Building just watching millions of people swarm the streets. Then, out of nowhere, the building turned into a boat and I was slowly cruising down the Hudson River. As I looked around, a loud roaring sound pierced my ears. I looked toward New York City and saw a plane flying too close for comfort. It started to turn and I noticed it was headed for me, and quickly! A few seconds later the white and blue plane crash-landed into the water. Two strong men kicked the door open and people jumped onto my boat. I told a tall man with white hair and 23 badges on his shirt to drive the boat while I jumped into the water to check if there were any more people. It was completely empty. Suddenly the plane began to sink rapidly, so I held my breath, and when I got to the bottom of the river I looked up and saw something new. When I came to the surface, I was in Portugal. I was standing behind my uncle, and then “Bam” – a gun was shot and my uncle was hit. The man who shot my uncle grabbed him and put him in the shed where his tractor was.
My mom woke me up because I was crying. I told her everything and she told me I was out of my mind. She was freaked out two days later when every thing I dreamed about happened. I told my family and they didn’t believe me, so I showed them my diary and they began crying because it was like I was psychic. I believe there are a million reasons behind a single dream, no matter how bizarre or unrealistic it may be. I’ve dreamed it all; I’ve even dreamed about dreaming!
Second Place: A Weather-Related Event by Elise Morris (Grade 11)
During the last year, the weather has been an unstable roller coaster ride. Some days it snowed hard in April, and others it was only raining in December. No mater how many changes the weather has had, there are two weather experiences that stick out the most to me.
Some say hurricanes are God’s way of showing that He is angry with us. However, during Hurricane Irene I don’t think He was that upset. Before the hurricane actually “hit” us, the news stations talked non-stop about it. They wanted us to board up our windows and stock up on supplies. The supermarkets were madhouses. People were pushing here and there to grab overpriced supplies. In one store, two batteries were ten dollars! Everyone was sure that this was going to be the next Katrina. It turned out that the hurricane wasn’t even that bad. I’ve seen more rain on a regular day than I did during Hurricane Irene. This is exactly why I will always remember Hurricane Irene – as the hurricane that never happened.
Another memorable weather moment was the blizzard on the day after Christmas. On Christmas Day, people always look forward to it snowing in order to have the perfect storybook white Christmas. Well, on December 25, 2010, nature had other plans. The snow didn’t fall until December 26. And when it fell, it fell hard. I remember this day because most of my whole family got snowed in TOGETHER. I remember us all looking out the window and realizing that we weren’t going anywhere. However, we made the best of it. We watched movies together, played games, and cooked so much food. We had a blast. That is, until the roads cleared up. When we could finally see the street, everyone took the opportunity to get out quickly. This weather event I will always remember as the family reunion no one planned for.
These memorable moments will stay with me forever.
Writing
of October:
Sophomores
First Place: Amber Childs-Santos
Second Place:
Antonio Tirelli
Third Place: Leah Reed
Honorable
Mention: Tyra
Elliott Sonia
Ferreiro
ShirBriya Fletcher
Rodrigo Martinez Kiara
Nivar
Malik Robinson
Andrew Smith
Lanette Torres
First Place:
Parents
Playing Favorites by Amber Childs-Santos
(Grade 10)
Although many parents will deny it, they all show favoritism. Most parents show favoritism for one of several reasons: the child could be the baby of the family, he or she could be the only one of that gender out of all the siblings, the child could have a better connection with one particular parent, or lastly, the child could be ill with a disease or some other medical problem that requires more attention.
Personally, when I was younger, I felt I was the favored child for my mother. Besides the fact that I am the youngest of my siblings, my mother and I have a special bond. The large age gap of 6½ years between my sister and me adds to the fact that I would get more attention. She was already in school when I was born.
But one day everything changed. My sister was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. Although she was 12 and I was 6, all the attention I used to get went directly to her. When I was younger, you could say I was green with envy about the attention she received, but now I understand the seriousness of it. As I’ve gotten older, I have slowly started to get some attention back, but I know that in the back of my mother’s mind she will constantly worry about her first-born.
As I continue to mature in my adolescent years, I feel as if I am growing slightly distant from my mother at times, but I know that she will always have my back.
My mother used to let me get away with murder, as my sister would say. Simple things such as doing the dishes or dumping the garbage – all I would have to say was sorry, I forgot, but if it were my sister, she would get yelled at. She would be told that she knew better. Currently my mom has become less relaxed, and I also start to get into trouble, but I think I will always be my mother’s favorite.
If my children in the future ever accuse me of showing favoritism, I will say I love them all equally and they each have their own special place in my heart,
Second
Place: My
Dreaming Habits
by Antonio Tirelli
(Grade 10)
Some say dreams can tell us a lot, while others believe dreams are just a sense of humor our minds take up while we are at rest. I partially believe both of these theories. Dreams affect us all somehow, some way.
I do not dream often, but when I do, my dreams seem to be action-packed. I seem almost never to dream of slow-moving, peaceful scenes on silent hilltops. I always dream about myself running like a four-year-old child who just ate four tablespoons of sugar. I run quickly, looking back to see what I am running away from, but almost all the time I never see what this is.
Sometimes I also dream of “running off the map.” I fall, and look down into the blackness that I am descending into. I look up, and see the world that I have just fallen from right above me. The world is in square shape, and just keeps getting smaller and smaller, as if I’m still falling and moving further away from it. I fall until the world is a small dot, and usually wake up right away.
Though I do not dream often, when I do, I know to count on it that the dream was about me “falling off the map” or running away from some unidentified object. As I’ve said, dreams may be able to tell us a lot, and these seem interesting enough to have significance for my thoughts. I would like to find out the true meaning behind them!
Third Place: Fruits and Veggies by Leah Reid (Grade 10)
(Play
starts out with all the fruits in a bowl yelling at each other
to move over and get out of the way.)
All fruits: Move!
Outta my way!
Strawberry: Make way, make way. I’M coming through.
Apple: Oh, here we go! Shut up, strawberry. Who rotted or got eaten and made you Fruit Queen?
Tomato:
Got that right
(said low).
Strawberry: What was that, tomato?
Tomato: Huh? Nothing! I didn’t say nothin’!
Strawberry: That’s what I thought. So like I said, OUT OF MY WAY! I belong at the top. I belong at
the top of everything, ESPECIALLY you worthless fruits,
Tomato (without confidence): I’m not worthless – the vine I grew on said so herself.
Strawberry: Oh really?
Tomato (sheepishly nods).
Strawberry (sarcastically): Oh well, if that’s the case . . .
Mango (interrupts): Strawberry, that’s enough, leave him alone. Sheesh – why do you pick on
everyone?
Strawberry: Stay out of it! This doesn’t concern you. Anyway, tomato, that vine isn’t here now, I am,
and I say you aren’t worth the packaging you came in. No one even knows what you really are
(using leaves as hands) On one side you’re a veggie and on the other you’re a fruit. You have to
pick one – you can’t be both!
Tomato
(starts to cry seeds and
tomelly).
Mango: Now look what you did! Why would you even say that? You know he has fruit identity
problems. You know, you may be pretty on the outside, but inside you’re just rotten!
Grapes: You got that right, Mango!
Jalapeños (with a Spanish accent): Now that’s the truth!
Strawberry: Why don’t you all shut up and keep your stems out of my business?
Banana: Well, you’re picking on one of our friends, so it is our business. I think I speak for everyone
when I say you’ve just been kicked out of the fruit bowl.
Strawberry: Oh yeah? And exactly how are you planning to get me out?
(All
the fruits start to wiggle and giggle until strawberry falls out
of the bowl and onto the floor.)
Strawberry: Oh yeah – you think that’s all it takes to get rid of me? Mrs. Smith will be here any
second, find me on the floor, wash me off and put me back.
Stringbean: Ur . . . unless Mrs. Smith’s dog Max comes and eats you first.
Strawberry: What are you talk . . . Oh no! No! Good dog, nice Fido!
Stringbean: His name is Max.
Strawberry: I mean Max, good Max.
Max: Oh yum yum – strawberries. I love strawberries!
Strawberry: No!
All fruits: Yesss !!
Max: munch, munch, munch. Ah! I lovvve strawberries!
(All
fruits cheer. Mrs.
Smith’s son John comes in.)
John: Mom! There are no more strawberries.
Jalapeño: No mijo las Frescas es no mas!
Mrs. Smith: No?
John: Nope.
Mrs. Smith: I was going out anyway. I’ll get more.
Stringbean: Thanks a lot, John.
Apple: I hate you, John.
Banana: John, you’re the worst!
Mango: Let’s get him!
(Fruits begin to
jump out and attack John’s white shirt.)
John: Oh my God, Mom – the fruits are alive!
Mrs. Smith: Yes, John – fruits come from plants, sweetie.
John: No, they’re attacking me!
Mrs. Smith: Don’t be silly, John!
THE END
Freshmen
First Place: Pamela Rodriguez
Second
Place: Estefania Rodriguez
Honorable Mention:
Timia Atkins
Shawn Cobb
Elijah Heron Randy
Puello Violet
Sutherland
First Place:
Parents Playing Favorites
by Pamela
Rodriguez
(Grade 9)
I think that at one time or another, our parents tell us, “We love you all equally.” It might be true in many cases, but it’s not always the case.
I have a twin sister and a little brother. We’re all very close to each other in age. This results in a package of drama, arguing and fighting, as well as joking, laughing, and having good times. Considering that, it doesn’t really matter to me who my parents’ “good child” is. However, I do notice
a preference toward my little brother. I don’t think he’s anyone’s favorite, but he gets away with murder! He goes to work with my dad all the time, “secretly” gets extra money, and gets most of his chores done for him. Despite this, I don’t mind all that much, because I think boys have it easier in most families. They usually don’t do chores or any work at all, especially if there’s a girl around to do it for them. They just need to get whipped into shape!
My mom isn’t as open about favoritism as my friend Lucy’s father is. He always tells Lucy and her sister Molly that he loves them both equally, but likes Lucy better. I think this is a simple, funny way of looking at it. They joke around about it and take it easy. It avoids arguments among siblings, and adds a funny twist.
Of course, I’ve got to admit that at the end of the day in my family, I think I’m the best child!
Second Place: Parents Playing Favorites by Estefania Rodriguez (Grade 9)
I agree one hundred per cent that most parents have their favorite child. In my case, my brother Emmanuel gets spoiled just because he’s the youngest in the family. My brother is thirteen years old, and just one year younger than me, but my parents still spoil him.
When I was thirteen, I had so many more responsibilities around the house than he does. He gets away with not doing his chores at home, playing video games all day, and not doing well in school. He does poorly in school and still gets video games whenever he asks for them. Meanwhile, I get excellent grades, and I have to wait, work for and earn things when I want something. If I ever ignored my mom when she tells me to do chores, I would be in serious trouble, and I can’t slack all day as he’s allowed to.
It frustrates me so much when I tell my parents about this and they deny it! There is so much proof that they go way easier on my brother than they do on me, but they have the nerve to deny it. I get so angry, and it makes my blood boil to see my brother rub it in my face that I’m having to work harder than he does, and he’s the favorite child.
Some day, if I ever become a parent, I won’t show favoritism towards one child, because I know from experience that it makes the other siblings upset. If I do have a favorite child, I won’t try to deny it because I know it only makes it worse for the other siblings. But I will try my best to treat them equally.