By BRETT WILKISON THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Spare time is a rarity for 16-year-old Ana Lopez. The Roseland University Prep junior has devoted herself so wholeheartedly to community service in the past four years that her whereabouts after school or during the summer are almost a foregone conclusion. Friends, [...]
By KYLE GALBRAITH CARDINAL NEWMAN HIGH SCHOOL, SENIOR Every teen knows of the intimidating facts that driving instructors throw at you. According to dosomething.org, car crashes are the No. 1 cause of death for teens, 35,000 teens have been involved in fatal crashes in the past five yaers, the number [...]
By GUY KOVNER THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Lucas Bilbro, 15, has leg muscles a middle linebacker would die for. But the 5-foot-11, 175-pound high school sophomore is more comfortable in a pirouette than plowing into running back. Coaches and peers at sports-oriented Cardinal Newman High School were eyeing Bilbro [...]
By SARAH STINSON MARIA CARRILLO HIGH SCHOOL, JUNIOR Have most urban dwellers truly seen the stars? The few sparse lights that glimmer in city skies sadly can’t compare with the gleaming brocade that blankets areas of remote wilderness. Although it can be difficult for people to release their [...]
By AUSTIN HEGG CARDINAL NEWMAN HIGH SCHOOL, SENIOR There is a constant outcry among teenagers for more freedom, more choice and more independence. Being a teenager in high school is a very peculiar age; your opinions begin to develop yet you are still living under your parents’ regulations. [...]
By JESSICA BIDDULPH URSULINE HIGH SCHOOL, SENIOR I have always lived my life with minimal concern about what the mass media suggest is appropriate or “good,” but I do see the unreasonable goals they establish for people. Girls living in this century constantly are bombarded with images of [...]
By JEREMY HAY THE PRESS DEMOCRAT The thing about school, says 18-year-old Luis Guzman, is that it’s hard to stay in it. “It’s hard just being in school because I know my family doesn’t have any money,” he said between classes at YouthBuild, a vocational education school for [...]
By NATHAN HALVERSON THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Some teenagers, gifted with intellect and focus, can make adults look downright immature. Nalani Genser, at 17, is one of those youthful iconoclasts. The aspiring model pauses before answering a question. She backtracks out of an opinion, reassesses, and then proceeds to [...]
By SARAH STINSON MARIA CARRILLO HIGH SCHOOL JUNIOR Her smile unfurls across dimpled olive cheeks as playful competition sparks in her eyes. The memory still glimmers in my mind. I was playing basketball with my new Mexican friend Jaqui in the humid heat, while the waves roared like faraway cars. [...]
By BOB NORBERG THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Lisa Gilardoni grew up on her grandfather’s Santa Rosa ranch and doesn’t remember the first time she mounted a horse. “I’ve been riding since I’ve been able to,” she said. She started competing in barrel racing when she was 7 years old, [...]