My hero is Carol Gray, my teacher from the Community Youth Center (formerly known as Chinatown Youth Center). She inspired me, helped me get back in school and get me off the fast track to nowhere (from not going to school), from not doing anything, and from hating school. She helped me by calling my house every morning to wake me up, by checking up on me, giving me work that I understood, by putting in classes that I could understand and by being there as someone to talk to whenever I needed it.

She means a lot to me. She inspires me to do well in life; she inspires me to actually get up every day, she inspires me to do what I want to do. I care for her because she wants me to do something; she doesn't want me to do bad in life, she wants me to be a great person. She would check on me when I didn't show up; she basically was my second mother next to my real mother. She took me to some colleges that I really wanted to check out, and I did like them. She said, "If you really want to, you could decide to go back east to go to school," so she's 100% fine with my decision. Without her and my great grandmother, I probably wouldn't be here right now. I wouldn't be in this room, I wouldn't be nowhere; I'd probably be outside on the street somewhere. She's a teacher, so she helps everybody out. She gets around, and if anybody needs help, she'll probably help them with it.

I have other heroes, but she's my main hero at this point in my life. She's like my grandmother, who won't stop until she gets through to me. My mother will always be there for me whenever I need her. Carol will always be there for me, too.

To learn more about CYC, and other facts about The County Community School, log on to http://www.cycsf.org.