What’s your favorite book and who is your favorite author?
John Green. My book is… I think it’s The Crossover. It’s my new favorite book because I just finished it. And The Fault in Our Stars.
Do you have any special hobbies or talents?
I like to sing. I used to be in choir. I like playing sports like baseball and softball and basketball.
What is your favorite thing about writing?
How I felt about writing is something that can calm yourself and have ideas and make up your own world.
What’s your favorite memory of 826CHI?
Me doing the thing where we went to Loyola because it showed me fear is just another word for trying harder.
What’s something you’ve written that you liked?
I don’t have a favorite one.
What inspired you to write “Traces from Family Marks?”
I was thinking about who I am and what represents me.
I liked the parts of “Traces from Family Marks” where you talk about your friends and family. What made you write about those details?
My friends are always there for me, so I wrote about the friendship bracelets. I really care about our friendship because it’s like saying they are my family. The recipe shows where I’m from and I won’t forget that because my grandpa is from Guatemala.
Can you tell me about a favorite memory with your friends or family?
One time we were in school and we were playing around and we got in trouble but we were there for each other so we didn’t get in trouble. It was kind of weird.
What do you think they would think of the poem?
For my family, they would be proud of me and for my friends, they would support me.
What do you want the world to know about you?
That I’m a person who looks forward.
Our 826 Day event on the roof of Ace Hotel Chicago was a beautiful celebration of our community from our donors to our students and everyone in between (pictured above is 826CHI supporter TASHA’s performance). Our book P.S. You Sound Like Someone I Can Trust was available in the hotel’s suites, Ace Hotel Chicago has hosted our annual love-themed print show featuring work by local artists inspired by our students writing on love, and their Senior Sales Manager, Tenasha Wilcoxon, spoke to our students in After-School Tutoring & Writing’s Speakers & Snacks series about what it’s like to work at a hotel.
The partnership between East Village Youth Program and 826CHI is a yearly collaboration to help students achieve their goal of being accepted into their college of choice and for many to be the first in their family to attend college. This fall, 826CHI staff and 12 volunteers worked with 13 high school seniors on their personal statements for college applications. The partnership continues in the Spring when 826CHI and volunteers will return to EVYP to support students as they apply for scholarships.
