By Staff
Northwest Junior High School students recently participated in a unique exercise of self-examination and discovery by submitting entries in the first Laws of Life essay contest.
In their essays, they wrote about how the essential laws of life guide and influence their lives. The effort was sponsored by the Meridian Public Schools' Community of Character program and Citizens National Bank.
The contest was organized by Ann Brown, English teacher and Mimi Smith, librarian. Prize money was awarded for first- through fourth-places and a number of honorable mentions.
Eighth-grader Jaren Bryce Hillery took top honors in the contest for his tribute to his mother. Other winners were eighth-grader Tiffany Smith, who placed second; ninth-grader Gracie Nichols, who placed third; and eighth-grader Jessica Thompson, who placed fourth.
Honorable mentions were awarded to Artesian Boyd, Lon Burt, Amanda Cody, Stephanie Dawkins, Sarah Gordon, Kiandrea Latimer, Jordan Rushing and Roshetta Williams.
Here is a look at the winning essay, entitled, "The True Black Queen."
By Jaren Bryce Hillery / special to The Star
June 5, 2003
My mom alone with all of her qualities represents the laws of life. She is my Black Queen because of the following reasons.
The first reason is that her love for me is unconditional. The second is that she is a very strong and determined woman. The last reason is that she believes in honesty and has compassion for others.
A mother's love for her child should be unconditional. I am truly blessed to say that I have the unconditional love that I need.
I say this because I know I come first and foremost in her life. We came to Mississippi from Texas to visit my Granny when I was about 6 years old. One day, I decided to visit my great-grandmother who lived across town.
I walked all the way to her house alone. My mother became very, very, very upset. She drove over there to get me. I had never seen her that angry before.
When my mom started to spank me, she just broke down crying. She started hugging me so tightly that I could barely breathe. I actually felt her trembling. My mom just kept saying "Don't you ever do this again. You really scared me. I don't want to lose you." Later, my mom explained to me all of the bad things that could have happened to me.
This experience made me realize just how much she loves me. I know that I come first in her life. She only wants the best for me.
She is a very strong and determined woman. When she is down and sleepy, she still keeps on going until she cannot go any more.
Right now, she is in school trying to get her bachelor's in nursing. Every single time I see her studying her books, it makes me so proud of her.
Even though she is taking care of her mom and me, she is still persevering and striving to achieve one goal. That one goal is to upgrade from a licensed practical nurse to an registered nurse and being the best nurse she can be. This makes me so proud of her.
The last quality is that my mom believes in honesty and has compassion for others. For example, when it comes to honesty, she says that when you lie to a person, it says, "I don't respect you. Your feelings don't matter to me."
My mom tells me to respect myself by being an honest person. When you love yourself, you respect yourself. The reason why she makes a great nurse to her patients is because she has compassion for others.
My mother loves her job. She cares for her patients. Sometimes she gets attached to her patients. Then when they die, she cries. To me, she is the most compassionate woman in the nursing business.
Last, but certainly not least, my mom is a lot of fun. All of my friends say that she is a fun person to be around. They say that she has a great sense of humor. We play around a lot.
For example, we play basketball together. Believe it or not, she has some mad skills when it comes to basketball. She taught me the game. Of course, I'm now better at it than she is. We also play cards, board games, watch movies and play wrestle.
What's important is that I love her. I love her more than anything. She is my hero in times of struggle. She makes me feel like I am wanted in this world. No matter what happens in my life, my mom will always be a black queen to me, which makes me her prince.