Essay Winners Find Unity and Inspiration

Marilyn Gomez sees a little bit of herself in author Maya Angelou. Not in her skin tone, but in Angelou’s writings on being an outsider and her struggle against the odds.

Marilyn, a 17-year-old senior at Westlake High School, won top honors for her essay on the subject at a Black History Month celebration Thursday at GTE’s California headquarters in Westlake.

The essay contest, sponsored by an African American employee association, asked students at Westlake and Thousand Oaks high schools to describe which African American was their biggest source of inspiration.

To the surprise of even company President David Bowman, none of the three top finishers was African American.

But the winners, all from Westlake High, were not surprised.

Marilyn, a Mexican American, said she found commonality with Angelou’s writings on the pain and isolation of racism.

“I saw what my parents as immigrants went through in their struggle to make it,” she said.

Erin Walsh, a 17-year-old senior who placed second for her essay on Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson, said she thinks that times have changed. Young people, she said, don’t confine themselves to members of their own race or ethnic group when looking for heroes.

“Teens today look up to anybody who inspires them,” said Erin, who is white. “I think we are more easily accepting than our parents and grandparents were.”

Echoing that assessment, third-place finisher Lauren Townsend, who is also white, said she believed that for many teens, race is not a barrier to understanding.

The 15-year-old sophomore said the ambitions of Martin Luther King Jr., her essay subject, inspired her to work hard in school.

Thousand Oaks Mayor Dennis Gillette, who presented proclamations to the students on behalf of the city, said he was heartened by the essays.

“We hear so many negative things about kids,” Gillette told the crowd of GTE employees who had gathered in the company’s cafeteria. “Their work makes it look like maybe things aren’t as bad as some people would have us believe.”

The contest, part of a celebration that featured soul food and vocal performances, also honored three African Americans, two inventors and a veteran from the Korean War.

The festivities were sponsored by Black Professionals in Communications, a nationwide organization for African Americans employed in the telecommunications industry. The group recently opened a local chapter at the GTE office for employees of the company.

Company spokeswoman Julia Wilson said the event was part of GTE’s efforts to educate its diverse work force. With 1,200 employees, it is one of the county’s largest employers.