Student’s Writings

Failure*Success by Khori Mitchell

FAILURE-SUCCESS…The students were challenged to consider the interaction of these two fundamental realities of life.

KHORI…uses her very mixed feelings over the loss of a special family member to remind us all that in order to help others you must first be able to help yourself.

Failure*Success 

The definition of failure is the lack of success. Throughout my life I’ve experienced many different forms of failure. I’ve always been the type of person who believed that everyone can change, even when they fail. I thought I was a prime example. If I can fail and keep trying, then surely everyone can, right? 

No, I was wrong.  Last year I was a freshman, and I’m sure everyone knows that, when you’re a freshman, you have to show an enormous amount of perseverance.  I expected everyone around me to show the same amount of perseverance ,and this unfortunately led to my demise. 

I had a family member that passed away from drug use last year,and I felt the failure she inflicted on herself ,and the rest of the family.  As a kid, I would often see her in a lot of pain. Pain from losing her closest family members from old age ,and  pain from her own failure to stop using drugs. I remember always being in her room, and asking her questions of what she used to be like, how she used to act, and all of her regrets. It’s still hard for me to acknowledge the fact that she’s actually gone.

  During her funeral, I was so angry that she failed. How could she? How could she choose a substance over her own family? Were we not important to her? If only we could’ve helped.. If only we didn’t fail to get her the help she truly needed. She would still be here today.  I was so angry at the fact that she failed. It made me forget her success… The person she was before she started to use drugs.

Looking back I think she always got less than what she deserved ,and this led to her drug use even more. She was the type of person to give more than what she had. She often gave so much that she never had anything left for herself. 

This truly scares me because I believe that I share the same traits as she did. I think I often show too much empathy to the point where I would choose someone else’s happiness over my very own. This is a trait that I’m currently working on ,because I know from experience that this trait often leads to failure. I also know that in order to help other people, you have to be able to help yourself. “You can’t pour into anything or anybody from an empty cup”.  I think about this a lot. Will this trait truly lead to my failure or my success? Will I be able to show empathy ,and show that I care for others ,while also caring for myself? Or will I let everyone else’s needs contribute to my failure and end up just like her. 

                                                                                          Khori Mitchell 

                                                                                          10/3/25

Blindspot by Judah Patterson

BLINDSPOT…The students were tasked to imagine themselves sitting on a park bench, waiting for a friend, when a blind person suddenly appears and asks the student, “What do you see?”

JUDAH…deploys “a Karen” to remind us just how blind humanity can be.

Blindspot

One summer day this lady, (will call her Karen to paint a picture in your head). Anyway, Karen went out to go meet one of her friends at a park. When she got there, her friend was a bit late. They were supposed to meet at 2:30 but her friend wasn’t there and it was 0.5 seconds after 2:30. As Karen’s name suggests, this behavior was unacceptable, so she went to sit on a bench and she sent her friend a long email complaining about how late they were. 

I can’t read the email out loud just because it has extremely colorful language not suitable for a school setting. Anyway, 0.02 milliseconds after this long email she was still sitting on a bench when she noticed this blind black dude who looked to be in his late 20s who had dark black sunglasses. The man was holding an ice cream and walking in her direction and she felt unsafe. Karen felt so scared that she gripped her purse so hard that her fake tan lotion started to melt under her sweaty hand. All of a sudden she noticed that one of the white couples in the park got into a fight and the husband started to get physical. Karen thought this was hilarious. What could the woman have done to make her husband so upset? She should have just kept quiet about all of her feelings and emotions like a good tradwife, Karen thought to herself. She was so focused on the couple that she didn’t notice the blind person was sitting next to her. 

In her personal space! Five feet away from her!!!! She tried to hold all of her Karen instincts inside so she wouldn’t yell. She knew she was in a hostile situation. I have to be careful, she thought to herself. These kinds of people are so unpredictably dangerous, like how is he holding that ice cream if he’s blind!! A couple of seconds went by of Karen sitting next to the blind person when he asked her. “What do you see?” Karen was in shock. She didn’t think these kinds of people could talk so well. “Well?” The blind person asked her. She didn’t answer, she was frozen in fear. 

The blind person then asked her if everything was alright and she didn’t answer. Eventually Karen’s friend came and saw what the situation was. We’ll call him Hankkk, spelled with three K’s at the end. “And who might you be!!” Hankkk violently yelled. The blind person responded with, “my name is Daquarius Freeman. How are you doing and what do you see?” Mr Freeman calmly said. Mr Hankkk yelled at Karen to get up. violently grabbed her and  they both ran off into the sunset happily ever after. The end.

Judah Patterson
9/26/2025

Blindspot by Jordan Smith

The students were tasked to imagine themselves sitting on a park bench, waiting for a friend, when a blind person suddenly appears and asks the student, “What do you see?”

JORDAN…starts to answer the question with her eyes, but soon finds herself tapping into the deeper well of her mind and heart.

Blindspot

Today I decided to go to a park with a friend. It doesn’t matter what park I go to, nor which friend I go with. I just feel like using the swingset the whole time instead of letting a little kid get on. They can cry to their parents all they want, I refuse to move. Anyway, I sat on a random bench in the park closest to my house. I kicked several rocks that were in front of me while I waited for my friend.

Suddenly, I hear movement beside me. Turns out somebody sat down on the other side of the bench. I felt a little upset that somebody sat on my bench, until I looked up. The person sitting next to me was blind. They had a white cane with a red stripe, and dark glasses. It was quiet between the two of us for a moment. Then, they asked me a question out of nowhere. “What do you see?”

I was confused as to why they asked me that question. I didn’t have anything else to do, so I answered. I told them about the trees swaying in the wind, the chirping of birds, and the countless kids running around. I thought I answered the question, but I was wrong. This person wasn’t looking for a basic answer, instead one that was meaningful. Meaningful? I don’t know anything about meaningful, heartfelt sayings that would inspire thousands of people.

I didn’t realize the answer was in front of me the whole time. The answer was my personal view on the world, mine.. When their question clicked in my head, I told them everything I felt in the moment. “I see people that disregard others because of a label they were given. I see how cruel humanity can treat one another. I see how kindness can be found in a pool of selfishness and anger. I see the world for what it is, not what I want it to be. 

I see the efforts to rebuild what is broken. I see the limitations, pain, and resentment of colonized countries. I see uncovered secrets in the faces of those who don’t know where they came from. I see the corruption of governments around the world.”

 Everything I’ve ever thought spewed from my mouth until there was nothing left. The person next to me said nothing, but I didn’t need words to know they understood everything. We sat together in silence, basking in this moment with only our surroundings speaking for us.

Jordan Smith
9/26/25

Man on the Ledge by Mohamed Cisse

The students were presented with the challenge of coming upon a person perched on the ledge of a tall building in beautiful Los Angeles.

MOHAMED…learns to appreciate a home filled with arguments and stress as opposed to one filled with silence.

Man on the Ledge

On the roof of the building I saw how endless Los Angeles looked. The city was full of light and noise, but on the roof it was quiet. I wanted some fresh air away from the weight of everything, from the arguments I had with my mom that kept getting me irritated and stressed. That’s when I saw him.

A man sat on the edge of the building, his feet hanging over like he might slip. At first I thought he was just up there to think, but the way he stared out into nothing told me something was wrong.

I hesitated before speaking, then asked, “Hey… are you okay?” He turned slowly, and I could see the sadness and exhaustion in his face, like he hadn’t slept in days.

“ My family is gone” he said, with his voice low but steady. “ ICE came while I was at work. Took my parents and my sisters. Left me with nothing but a note on the table. They’re being sent back, but I was born here. I’m the only one who gets to stay.”

The words hit me harder than I expected. I didn’t know, but in the moment it felt like the whole weight of his life was pushing on my chest. I stepped closer, careful not to startle him. “That’s… that’s brutal. But taking your life won’t bring them back. You’ve still got a chance to fight for them. To tell their story.”

He shook his head. “Fight? With who? Against who? I’ve spent my whole life following the rules, paying taxes, working double shifts. None of that mattered. To them, I’m just another name in the system. And now I’m supposed to keep going like I’m not split in two?”

I didn’t know what to say, but silence felt wrong. “You’re not split in two,” I said finally. “You’re still whole. And maybe… maybe you’re the only one who can bring them back. If you leave now, their story ends here too.”

He let out a resentful laugh, but I noticed his hands loosen slightly on the ledge. For a long moment, we both stared out at the city, like it might give us an answer.

As I stood there beside him, I couldn’t stop my own thoughts from flowing. I thought about the things that weighed me down with the pressure at home, the stress of school, the way it always felt like I was running to catch up with everyone else. I used to think my problems were too heavy to carry.

But looking at him, hearing what he’d lost, it hit me different. His family was gone, torn away while he was at work. He didn’t get to go home to noise or arguments or even stress. He went home to silence. That kind of silence had to feel worse than any noise I’d ever complained about.

This didn’t erase what I carried, but it made me see it clearer. My weight was real, but his was a different kind of heavy. One that could break a person if nobody reached out. For the first time that night, I realized something: sometimes the only thing keeping someone from falling is knowing they’re not alone.

Mohamed Cisse

9/20/25

Man on the Ledge by KennedyLewis

The students were presented with the challenge of coming upon a person perched on the ledge of a tall building in beautiful Los Angeles.

KENNEDY…channels the plight of a world-weary night watchman to deal with the crisis.

Man on the Ledge

I’m so glad I’m almost finished with my nightshift, being an overnight security guard is NOT for the weak. This month alone has made me reconsider my job. I’ve had things thrown at me, people screaming in my face, someone making direct eye contact with me while using the sidewalk as their urinal, the usual. I do one final sweep in front of the building before I head back to the break room. Just as I’m about to head back inside, a woman frantically runs up to me.

(Madisyn): Sir- sir! PLEASE!

I’m NOT in the mood for this, I try to side step her but she rushes to the door.

Kennedy: Ma’am I’m gonna need you to back up from the door, mkay? Before I have to

(Madisyn): Please! I saw a man on the roof- I think he’s gonna jump off!

Kennedy: Mkay so, ma’am- no one has entered this building- alrighty? No one gets past me, NO ONE. 

(Madisyn): Can you please just check, I saw him dangling off!

In my mind I have ‘probable’ cause to tase this woman, but I’ve already gotten a few warnings this month for using ‘unethical’ force on civilians- whatever that means. And something tells me if there really is a man on the roof, and he just so happens to be embodying a bird, I’m gonna get into some trouble. I wave the woman off and reluctantly assure her I’ll check on the roof.

 GOD, what’s wrong with people these days? Why do I of all people have to deal with this? I just wanted to try and make a pretty buck  and now I have to coax someone off the roof. I’m getting flashbacks of the 2020 discord. 

It takes me a couple of minutes to reach the top of the stairwell, and by then I’m well out of breath. I push open the door, and low and behold there IS a man on the ledge. He snaps his head towards me when he hears the door shut. 

Danny: Don’T Cometh Aught Clos’r!

I raise my hands and slowly inch towards him. ‘’Come on man, you don’t really wanna do this.’

Danny: Nay, nay- I doth! I has’t to! Mine own existence is ruined!

Kennedy: I stop just a few feet behind him, ‘Do you wanna like- talk about it?’

Danny: I’m about to jumpeth and thee wanna ‘talk about it’? Is yond all thee guards very much has’t- what hath happened to propriety- sympathy-

I swivel my heel and walk back towards the door. 

Danny: ‘WAIT- prithee, changeth my own intellect, discourse to me! Alloweth me to plead my own case!’

Kennedy: Can you stop talking like that?

Danny: ‘Just a few hours before this, I went to the Casino.’

I already know where this is going.

Danny: ‘I told myself I’d only bring cash- I swear I did! But when I lost..I found myself reaching into my pocket, and then- then draining my savings, and then my- my kids future college fund, and then the lease to my house..’

How’d you manage to do all that in just a few hours? Nevermind. What am I even supposed to say now? Not that I agree with him trying to do his best bird impression. But he’s lowkey right, his life IS ruined. I try to muster up some words, but the man quickly turns back to the edge.

Danny: so coequal thee concur with me, mine own existence is ruined!

Kennedy: I never said all that!

Just as I see him taking a step forward I tase him.

Danny: Nay! nay nay…

God, even the act of saving him feels like a bad act. No wonder they call this place the city of angels.

Kennedy Lewis

September 19, 2025

Man on the Ledge by Madisyn Hall

The students were presented with the challenge of coming upon a person perched on the ledge of a tall building in beautiful Los Angeles.

MADISYN…is drawn into the ethereal presence of a man she once knew.

Man on The Ledge

I walk up on the terrace to see a man on the ledge. I didn’t expect anyone to be out there around this time of the night, especially not on the ledge. The air was cold and windy. The breeze was strong. I wondered if the stranger could feel it too. I walked over, keeping my distance. The man turned slightly, noticing my presence, but said nothing. 

I sit along the ledge with the man. I looked down and I felt an adrenaline rush, not from the fear of falling but what might happen if I did. I looked over at the man again and his face was obscured. I couldn’t tell if it was the angle but the man didn’t seem to have a face, not one that was visible to the naked eye. 

 Something about his presence was so familiar and nostalgic. He said, “ you know me.” His voice sounded mangled or somewhat muzzled but I felt what he said was true. I did know him. He spoke again. “You shouldn’t be up here.” Then silence. I felt the eyes of the stranger on me for the first time. It was like he could see into my soul and possibly what my true intentions were. It made me feel uneasy. 

 I was reluctant to look back at the man, but when I did, there was no one there. It was just me and my conscience and the presence of a man that was once there and the unspoken questions. 

Madisyn Hall

September 24, 2025