By Andrew Hosey
Grade 12
Bloomington, Indiana


All of mankind dreams of a perfect world.
A world without hate, jealousy, fear and pain.
A vision of world peace is what we really want.
It's what we really need to survive, love for each other.
And the greatest men and women of all time took steps toward this vision.
What made these people great was their ability to share this vision with all.
Their ability to give sight of this vision to the blind masses.
Their ability to open the eyes, minds and hearts of everyone
That they ever came in contact with.
These great people helped humanity better itself.
They made the world a better place.
But it will take time for humanity to realize the beauty of world peace.
It also will take even more great people.
People with the same ability to make their vision your own.
One day it will happen and I hope I live to share the vision with the world.

How, O Allah, How?

By: Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim
(In the name of God, the benevolent, the merciful)
Olivia Mohamed El-Desouqi Ibrahim Abdelaziz El-Awady
Grade 9
Bloomington, Indiana

In memory of my grandfather, Ibrahim Abdelaziz El-Awady


How many years have passed since my grandfather was killed in war in 1969?
How many tears have escaped from my grandmother's eyes since?
How much fear feasted on her soul as each of her sons was drafted?
How much terror tore through her heart at each knock on her door announcing a son wounded?

How many dark nights have marauded by since my father was maimed in war in 1973?
How many nightmares have battered him since?
How many ghosts from the battlefield have visited in broad daylight?
How many days were lost to taming torturous demons?
How many generations of his sons will war consume?

How many times have we been called dogs, cockroaches, a cancer, a disease that needs to be destroyed, exterminated, crushed?
How much hatred does each bullet shot at us bring?
How much desire for revenge does each rocket fuel?
How much anger does each house demolition ignite?
How much bitterness does each humiliation incubate?

How much of their hatred and racism will we allow to poison our hearts in return?
How many will we kill before we become everything violent we despise in them?
How many times will I have to say this conflict can never be solved by violence?
How many voices will I have to gather who refuse to kill to be stronger than your bullets?
O Allah, I want to be our Ghandi, our Martin Luther King, our Nelson Mandela.