| A student named Maria said: |
| "We have seen so many people in this century--Anne Frank, Martin Luther King, Gandhi--that were more than just simple people. Martin Luther King was more than a minister, Gandhi was more than just a lawyer, and Anne Frank was more than a fiften year old girl writing something in her attic. Cesar Chavez wasn't just a farm worker . . .And they weren't doing it for the things they were going to get. They were doing it for the good of the people that they believed in, for the people that stood for what they believed in. And that's what Ms. Gruwell is doing today. . .I believe that she is going to do great things, not just for this community, not just for this state, but for this whole country. . .and once she's done with that, I believe that she's going to take it so much further. . .And I believe that twenty years from now, she will be in those history books next to Martin Luther King, to Gandhi, to Anne Frank, inspiring other kids like us and those like you guys to go out there and do what you can do to change this world as well." |
| A student named Henry said: |
|
"When I met Erin Gruwell, I was in a cycle of hopelessness. I was in a cycle that said education was not important. It wasn't the education--it was what color I should wear in a certain neighborhood, or how many drugs to put into a certain bag and how much to sell it for . . .And I was in a cycle that said every day of my life should be that way--every day of your life should pattern itself after the last--therefore, you build yourself to a point where there is no tomorrow. Tomorrow's the same as today, if here is a tomorrow to look forward to. If you live to see. When I met Erin Gruell, she opened her life to me. This is not someone that looks like me or is where I'm from, of talks like me, or speaks like me. . .And she didn't give up on me, because it wasn't easy. And i want you to know that Erin Gruell is a fighter--a fighter and she's a believer. . .She taught us all life. She not only taught us life, but she gave us life. She gave us the ability to believe in ourselves enough to want to change our communities, enough to want to change the world, enough to want to break the cycle, enough to want to believe in a future and not only believe in it, but try to grasp it. Erin Gruwell is much more than a teacher. . .Erin Gruwell is a good person dedicated to doing something. . .And all that was from one person dedicated to changing the cycle. . .A definite catalyst to change. My mentor, my mother, Erin Gruwell." |
Page created on 10/6/2001 12:18:22 PM
Last edited 10/6/2001 12:18:22 PM
