If we could change Charlotte...

A few weeks ago, Ayana Dixon, a behavior modification technician at the Right Choices Program held on J.T. Williams' campus, told me she was holding an essay contest with her students. She wanted to know how they would change Charlotte. Here is what second-place winner Lorena Marquez, a sophomore, and third-place winner Dabria Spurgeon, a freshman, had to say (edited for brevity and clarity):

Lorena Marquez essay:
No human or animal is perfect, nor any city or state. But there are things that we could do to improve Charlotte. If I had the money and power I wouldn’t promise to make Charlotte the best place to live, but I would make it more managed and organized then it is now.

... There is so much poverty, so many deaths, and too many uneducated teenagers in the streets. On January 26, 2011 there were a total of 12,908 homeless people counted in the state of North Carolina. Out of that whole population there were a total of 2,987 homeless children. If I had the power to change poverty in Charlotte I would build a facility that would give them a place to live and eat. I would buy enough beds to give each a place to rest comfortably instead of having them sleep out in the streets ...

Another change I would work for is educating high school drop outs, giving them a second chance to make a better decision for their future. Honestly, I would abolish the law stating that teenagers can drop out at the age of 16. I feel like that’s an encouragement to drop out. 30,688 N.C. inmates have been recorded to be high school dropouts. In North Carolina 83 students drop out EACH DAY! We are the future of the United States and with few people earning a good education, how many doctors will we have to help cure the sick? How many professional dentists will clean our teeth? ...


Dabria Spurgeon essay: The city where you can’t go a mile without seeing Jordan’s ... where you have New Jack, TTG, and Taylor Gang living all in one community ... where people kill over money, shoes, clothes and family ...

Teenagers in the generation before us could stay outside all day as long as they made it home before the street lights came on ... Our generation can’t even leave the doors unlocked when we leave home. We’ve learned to entertain ourselves at home and communicate through the new forms of media and technology. We have to make a change, take a chance. But how can a teenager like me change the whole city of Charlotte?

Nobody knows, but it’s at least worth a try. I’m only one ... but the change begins with me. I won’t follow the road others take! ...

I can ... have a voice in my community, school, and city (telling) them we need to make a change in our everyday lives.

One more thing I can do is write a compassionate letter to Mr. Obama addressing the things that go on in every state and making a difference by giving children something productive to do with their time. ... I will try to make the neighborhoods I once lived in better and bigger for the next generation ...

America is in great turmoil and it’s up to me and you to change that ... Don’t wait until something tragic happens, start now!