2nd Place YOUTH CATEGORY
The day I graduated eighth grade was my fourth year living in Massachusetts. I had hoped I would feel like a girl stomping into big shoes and fighting for rights like everyone around me. The sun was warm on my green dress, stable ground beneath my Mary Janes. The school was packed, as if the whole neighborhood came, as if we were a family. Some people cried, and we all cheered for everyone who went across the stage. But even as the neighborhood cheered for me, I still felt like a little girl in shoes that were too big.
Haven Montgomery, 13 Years old,
Brookline.