Category: Piece of the Week

by Curry, San Francisco We have all heard the phrase, against all odds. The dictionary defines this as if you do something against all odds, or against all the odds, you do it even though there were many problems/challenges, and it didn’t seem possible to do.  I can relate to this topic right now because I am betting on a NFL football game, in which the San Francisco 49ers are playing the Los Angeles Rams at the 49ers home stadium. As of right now, the odds are stacked against the LA Rams because the 49ers have a history of beating

by Tanaj, San Francisco Tanaj is someone who’s lost, back-to-back trauma is all he knew. After losing his mom, everything went downhill. He started stealing cars, and hanging out with the wrong crowd. One night he stole another car not thinking much of it, like those other nights, but not knowing tonight would be different. He picked up a friend, someone he called his brother not realizing it would be his last time seeing him. They went off to the beach reeking of weed, cursing the words of a song they loved so much without a care in the world.

by Bethany, San Diego My heart looks through my eyes. My heart will touch you through my body. My heart will be shown through a laugh, but my heart can never care or beat for someone who did me wrong in the slightest way. It’s hard to explain, but when I get angry, I have no heart and no pure mind.  I only have anger and the way it comes out is through my body. My mind shuts off, my eyes black out, and then I seem to wake up when people are pulling me off. It’s different when I

by Daniel, Santa Clara  Loyalty is something that means a lot to me and I’m sure it means a lot to you as well. Relationships tend to be more successful when there is honesty and loyalty.  It don’t matter what type of relationship it can be a relationship with your homie, girl, or family. Imagine having a friend that you can’t trust. I say that because there can be no loyalty without trust. I’ve been trying to figure this out.  If you can’t trust that person can you even be loyal to them? If I can’t trust you to turn

by D, Sacramento I have a deep connection to this quote. Right after reading this, I got a weird feeling in my chest. It wasn’t sadness, nervousness, or happiness. I don’t know what to call it. I think the reason for this is because I tell myself and others this every day. I always say, “You’re not gonna be here forever. Keep your head up.”  Sometimes, when I tell people this, I see a sparkle of hope in their eyes. Other times, I see deep anguish, hopelessness, like they don’t believe one single thing that I said. It’s how I

by Julian, Santa Clara I’ve gained and lost a lot being in the streets, I’ve lost my freedom, family friends, money, support, along with many other things.  Unfortunately, those are the consequences. Losing a loved one to the streets is one of the hardest things to deal with whether that means to violence, addiction, poverty, etc. I regret the things I’ve missed out due to my actions. Until this day I’m still missing out on the things like I should be there for like the birth of my child. There was a point in time where I had nothing but

by BA, San Mateo I am hoping to get out soon so I can get a job to get me some money and I’m going to keep doing my work so I can graduate here in the hall and keep doing well here so I get out soon.  I’m improving in so many ways that I thought I would never improve like I’ve improved in school and I remember I would never like school or doing work but now I like school and hopefully if I get out soon I will still go to school and graduate. If not I’ll

by Spazz, San Francisco We got to stop using guns to kill each other and use them to protect and hunt. We got to stop it by not tripping off gangs and stuff because you think that you own that block.  But, you don’t own it. It is going to be there when you are gone and thousands of years later. We need to come together and make one whole together. We got the most power people can have, but we kill each other over a number or color. You can stop it by not joining a gang and teach

by Stitch, San Mateo  I wish they know that I am a person that questions everything. I am a person with a lot of anxiety. I am a person with a huge heart. I tend to question all the little things that don’t really matter.  For example, when someone is  suddenly nice to me I ask myself, why? Then I sometimes replay that whole interaction in my head. I do my best to look for their true intentions. I am also a person that has a lot of anxiety. I get anxious easily. Sometimes when I have some type of

by BS, Sacramento Five years ago, I was twelve and I lived in a group home in San Rafael. The group home was called St. Vincent School for Boys. It was a level fourteen at the time, and there were five different houses next to each other. They had a basketball court outside, down the hill. It had four different hoops. I used to play basketball all day, even if it was raining.  They also had a track field with an oval shape grass area in the middle. They also had a horse program, and I had a job, and