It is not everyday you run into a middle school student who loves to write an essay.
You might have to look deeply to find a student who wants to take the additional time needed to compose a lengthy essay.
Tommy Biggs and Jake Ogao did just that. The two Ponderosa Middle School students did not know what to expect when they were informed of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Patriot’s Pen youth essay contest.
Meant for anyone in sixth grade through eighth grade, for many youngsters, it would be the last thing they would want to do.
Writing a single spaced, 500-word essay on the theme of what it means to be a good American, simply put, sounds appalling.
Ogao and Biggs, who have been friends for several years, entered the contest together when they found out about the essay near the end of September through their teachers, Calandra Kallstrom and Triann Coker.
The two Ponderosa seventh graders began to work on their essay steadily for three weeks until they came across some confusion. With VFW being a national organization and not as accessible to get a hold of, there was some confusion when the essay needed to be turned in.
The fork in the road hindered them slightly but no harm was done as Ogao and Biggs finished on time but had to have their parents pay for overnight shipping to make sure VFW received their essays on time.
The devotion, strife and anticipation were worth it as Biggs and Ogao excelled by earning first and second place in their post, respectively. Biggs’ accomplishment helped him enter the district level of the contest, which he won as well.
Biggs’ first-place finish helped him earn $650 dollars, while Ogao won $50. Biggs was originally reluctant about entering the essay competition and even rewrote his entire essay halfway through the process.
“I was originally not going to do it but Jake was like ‘yeah, let’s do that.’ I ended up doing it again,” Biggs said. “I kind of forgot and he got me back into it. He talked to my mom about it. Jake told me that he liked it so I decided I would start writing it.”
The two Ponderosa students gave much credit to Biggs’ mother, a former lawyer, who currently works at the Klamath Community Foundation. When the COVID-19 pandemic arose, she homeschooled her son and Ogao, teaching them writing fundamentals.
“Tommy’s mom helped a lot,” Ogao said. “We would just kind of hang out together and write and pass the paper through each other. I made sure to double and triple check my essay after I spent time writing it.”
How to be a good American
Biggs’ essay will now be evaluated at the state level and he will find out how he faired sometime this month. Biggs’ essay involved abundant research and let his audience know why America is in the state it is in today.
His thesis was easy to understand. Americans need to respect other Americans, using a quote from George Washington to validate his argument. “Everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine, and there shall be none to make him afraid,” Washington said.
Biggs noted the pilgrims and colonists came to North America to practice their religion since their countries did not offer religious freedom. Biggs said: “Freedom of religion led to freedom of thought and opinion in America. If we stop respecting our differences, we lose the thing that makes America special.”
Additionally, Biggs used French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville as another example of what makes a good American. De Tocqueville, who visited America in the early 1,800’s, noticed Americans formed associations with one another, as apposed to only the government or church.
Biggs cited, Americans made private hospitals, built inns for traveler and created charities to help their brother in need. To conclude, Biggs expressed the importance of honoring veterans but also, the importance of being and fighting in the military for one’s own country.
He quoted poet Charles M. Province, “It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech.” Biggs ended his essay with a valiant call to action.
“I wanted to show not only what makes it (America) unique but good. They (military) have to fight wars. We have to honor them. We do not really do that,” Biggs said. “The Founding Fathers pledged ‘our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor’ to the American Revolution. Many of the founding fathers lost everything, including their lives. A good American today must show the same courage to protect our rights and freedoms.”
“It is about tolerance for viewpoint. If you are wrong, it is OK to let someone else speak. I know that is kind of attacking their freedom of speech but if you have a bunch of ideas, you can find the best one. You can do something about the bad things but if you just shut them down, nothing good ever comes of it.”
Aguilar-FloresJ@kfalls.k12.or.us