Kendra Washington: The beauty of being unique
July 1, 2008
By Aaron Colston | William Fleming High School
Kendra Washington started her high school career at William Fleming High School, with her head held high.
She thought she had a handful of friends to sit with at lunch. But then she found out that they had turned on her, and it became hard not to get sucked into the drama of “he said-she said.”
Kendra let the drama almost consume her. Her grades begin to plummet and her self image was almost completely demolished. Her mother saw a change in her personality, and she decided to make a change. The first step was taking night school courses at William Fleming.
This wasn’t enough.
Kendra then attended Patrick Henry High School as a sophomore and a new leaf turned over for her.
She made new friends. At her new school she felt like she had better opportunities, and now she wasn’t afraid to tap into her creativity.
“Fashion lets me express myself,” Kendra, now a 17-year-old rising senior at Patrick Henry, said as she sits across from me with about 13 different colors on. When the topic of fashion came about, a twinkle came into her eye.
Kendra considers herself self-motivated; when she sees something she wants she doesn’t hesitate to get it.
In the future, she doesn’t know what she wants to do, but she is definitely going into the fashion/photography field. College is in her future. In addition, she wants to travel around the world and show that uniqueness should be embellished and not frowned down upon.
Climbing to the top, when in the beginning the odds weren’t always in her favor, is something that may be hard to achieve. Kendra believes nothing is impossible.
Being different and unique was once something that she felt insecure about and now she loves herself even more for her differences.
- Posted by MJW 2008
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Hope Ammen: Daring to be different
July 1, 2008
By Shanikwa Wright | William Fleming High School
“I hate pickles! I can’t even stand the smell of them!” Hope Ammen exclaims as she purses her lips and squints her eyes.
Hope hates pickles and hopes to one day overcome her “pickle phobia.” It’s even on her list of “Things to do Before I Die,” which was made along with her best friend, Carrie. Hope also wants to bungee jump, shave her head and even slurp soup in New Jersey: “I heard it was illegal so, I just want to do it!” she says, giggling.
Hope and Carrie have been friends since they were both in the fifth grade. They enjoy shopping, taking pictures and hanging out. Hope loves to paint and play backyard football with her neighbors and brothers.
“I’m the star quarterback of the team,” she says as she smiles and turns in her seat.
She is going to have a Sweet Sixteen on Sept. 17 and wants to go see the Broadway plays, “Wicked” and “Phantom of the Opera” in Pittsburgh.
She is a rising junior and is home-schooled along with her siblings. In her spare time, she likes to dance and paint random items.
“It expresses feelings,” she says as she extends her arms.
She is half-Lebanese and an assortment of other ethnicities. Her favorite food has to be baklava and hummus. Baklava is a dessert that is made of dough and sugar, and hummus is made of mashed chick peas and oil.
In December, Hope will be traveling with her aunts to Australia, New Zealand and the Fiji Islands for three weeks. She plans to learn more about these amazing places; it will also be the first time she has traveled overseas.
Hope also has a thing for photography: “I dare to be different.”
With a great smile, long, curly brown hair and a pair of big, brown eyes, Hope’s beauty stands out from the rest in a group photo.
- Posted by MJW 2008
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Nikki Wright: She'll make you laugh
July 1, 2008
By Hope Ammen | Home school
“I like everybody laughing!” said Shanikwa Wright with a smile.
She is better known as Nikki and loves to scream and be scared. That is why she loves to ride roller coasters. The craziest thing that she has ever done was while she was at Kings Dominion and she went on the ride “The Drop,” which takes you 300 feet in the air.
“When I got to the top I was just like screaming, 'Why did I get on here?’ ” she laughed.
The 17-year-old also loves driving, being on the cheer team at school and sometimes just simply relaxing.
Nikki was born in Baltimore, where she lived for the first few years of her life. Her family moved to Roanoke when she was 13, and now she attends William Fleming High School with her best friend, Izzy. When asked what her favorite thing to do with Izzy was, she smiled and said, “eat.”
Nikki is looking forward to her senior year in high school and has many ideas for her future. She is interested in photography and would like to one day work for a magazine.
“Actually, I want to be a physiologist, no … a lawyer. Wait, I don’t know!” she laughed.
Whatever it is, Nikki will always be good at her true talent: being able to make anybody laugh.
- Posted by MJW 2008
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Zack Irby: He's not a quitter
July 1, 2008
By Shomari M. Pasley | Patrick Henry High School
When Zack Irby was born March 5, 1991, at Roanoke Memorial Hospital, he weighed 1 pound, 3 ounces.
Doctors made it known to his parents that the premature baby would never walk, talk, nor attend school if he lived after three hours of birth.
But to their surprise, Zack proved them wrong. After five months of living in the hospital, he was allowed to go home. For another two-and-a-half years, he had to use oxygen and be on a respirator.
Zack has always been a motivated student who was very proud to be proof of a living miracle. In the fifth grade, Zack went on a small trip with his parents, Mike and Pat Irby, to the WDBJ (Channel 7) Open House, where the attendants were able to shadow reporters.
“It was amazing watching and helping the reporters write a story from a blank concept to an open-ended story,” Zack said when asked what he enjoyed the most. From that day on he knew that he wanted to be in the field of journalism.
After 13 surgeries, Zack is now a happy, healthy 17-year-old who is attending The Roanoke Times Minority Journalism Workshop 2008.
When asked how he thinks he can be a better journalist, Zack replied, “I can be a better journalist because I’ve learned to cope with negativity and trials in my life. It’s given me a reason to have something to write about. I have a story and I am proud because I am not a quitter. I am proud of what I achieved because the doctors’ negativity proved that they are only so right and their assumptions are not always accurate, and life and its experiences are awesome.”
- Posted by MJW 2008
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Shomari Pasley: Poet shares her story
July 1, 2008
By Zack Irby | Northside High School
In the fourth grade, Shomari Pasley already had a poem published and had written several short stories.
Shomari, now a 15-year-old Patrick Henry High School junior, gets the inspiration for her poetry and stories through strong females who have overcome obstacles. One of her major inspirations is her mother.
Shomari’s friends and family are her biggest support system when it comes to reading her poetry and coming up with new ideas and inspirations. Another source of inspiration and ideas for Shomari’s poetry are the everyday issues and obstacles that teenagers have to overcome.
“In five years I see myself attending Spellman University where I will major in English and literary arts,” Shomari said.
When it comes to famous people, she is inspired by authors Sharon G. Flake and Zora Neale Hurston. Shomari’s other inspirations include Maya Angelou and Nikki Giovanni, who is known for her “We Are Virginia Tech” poem, which she wrote within hours of the April 16 tragedy.
“My favorite type of poetry is definitely free verse and rhythm. Although I have experimented in prose and lyric poems as well,” Shomari said.
When Shomari is not writing poems or stories, she enjoys getting her hair done and shopping at her favorite department store, JCPenney.
“I also enjoy going out with my best friend to the movies and coming home and curling up with a good book,” Shomari said.
Shomari feels that journalism relates to poetry and stories because you have a story to tell in both and you also have something to show through your word choice.
“My mom is definitely proud of me and what I’ve accomplished thus far in my life,” Shomari said.
“She is also ecstatic that I can get into the field of journalism because my mom always wanted to pursue it as well, but never had the chance to.
“I am going to make my mom proud and show her that I can excel in the field of journalism and provide a springboard for myself to better myself in the future.”
- Posted by MJW 2008
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