My name is "Child Anywhere In America". I dream of the brightness of what my life can be, in the darkness of the nation's nightmare.
I want to learn. I want to teach. I want to try. I want to succeed. I want to hope. I want to help. I want to be heard. I want to love. I want to be loved. I want to live. I want to feel alive. I want to smile. I want to laugh. Yes, I even want to cry but not because my father was slain by a bullet; not because my mother was murdered by a madman's assault rifle; not because my brother and my sister were taken from me by a drive-by shooting; not because my teacher, my classmate or my friend were killed by a handgun. Do my "wants" mean anything to you? What do you want for me?
Ziggi Tyler, Freshman, Ogden International School of Chicago.