Once a month on Saturdays, we turn the Valley Voices page over to the commentaries of the Valley's young adults. This week, we have three compelling pieces by students in three different colleges. Amy K. Noel, who's in the Smittcamp Family Honors College at Fresno State, writes about her dream of going away to school in New York. When she got a full-ride scholarship to Fresno State that she couldn't turn down, however, her initial disappointment was quickly eclipsed by a big surprise. Clare Godinho, a journalism student at Fresno City College, heard about the proposed program cuts Fresno County wants to make to its mental health services and she decided to find out what's at stake for college students. Justin Duckham, a student at the University of California at Merced, says we should have seen the signs of oil addiction coming.
If you enjoy those pieces -- wait, there's more. On Sunday, Marissa Honda, a student at Clovis West and a fifth generation Japanese American, writes about a little-known part of World War II history, and that was the Japanese American men who became conscientious objectors during the war after the internment order was enforced. In some circles, they still are shamed for their stand. Marissa says it's time for that to end.
I was impressed with Amy Noel's article. Not only what she said, but the superb use of the English language. Not all of our youngsters are illiterate. Her article, almost whatever she said and the way she said it, gives me great optimism for her generation.