Sunday, January 14, 2007

Finally, a succinct summary of my life, courtesy of the Scholarships Experts Web site search form:

Student does not have a car.

Student has no dependents.

Student has not been charged with or convicted of any misdemeanors or felonies.

Student is drug-free.

Student is non-violent.

Student is right-handed.

Student's parents are married.

Student's sexual orientation: heterosexual.

Student attended a high school within the immediate delivery area for Papa John's Pizza.

I may not find that scholarship for graduate school, but I'm closer to a real understanding of who I am. A candidate for the National Right-Handed Carless Orderer-of-Papa-John's Award.

Jessica Tyson Falls Church

The Alternative Education High School where I am a counselor is next door to a large high school. Some of our students come straight from state prison for juveniles. Others come from drug rehab or local juvenile detention centers. The school next door wins educational and sports awards. Both schools release at the same time, making the sidewalks a microcosm of the world's cultures and economic strata. One spring afternoon the principal and I noticed our students and the neighboring high school students disappearing together into a small clearing next to a densely wooded patch. Suspicious of what transactions were taking place, we crept up to the scene to check it out: Two dozen teenagers picking honeysuckle blossoms and sucking out the nectar.

Ruth Garza Manassas

Find a way to give insight into your life in under 100 words. Authors of selected entries will be notified and paid $100. Send text (accompanied by a home phone number) via e-mail (lifeisshort@washpost.com), fax (202-334-5587) or mail (Style, Life Is Short, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071).