Yearly Letter from Christine Rivas, Our First Scholarship Recipient

June 16th 2009


Dear Stephanie Burgos’s family,

I’ve been doing pretty well, in school and otherwise. I finally figured out my major. I’m going to major in creative writing and minor in theater, so I can be a screenwriter or a playwriter or something like that. I took Creative Writing this term and I really liked it, so I’ve decided to make that what I do for a living. And I’ve always been fascinated with theater and would love for it to be a part of my career.

I’ve been thinking about ways to use everything I’ve learned in classes, and I’ve settled on writing a play or a short skit of some sort, for my church or maybe even just for fun, to film it or publish it in some way. I also got one of my poems published in my school program’s magazine, along with things I’d written in class, which was really exciting for me. I’m already thinking about a big side project, and when it’s on Youtube or somewhere where it can be viewed, you’ll be the first to know.

I noticed that Richard Bohan won the scholarship this year when I looked at the memorial site, and I don’t think you could have picked a better person for it. I knew him back in high school, and he was one of the nicest people I’d met in Cleveland. It was really cool for me to see that somebody I knew got the same scholarship I did.

I’m getting ready to go back to work as a lifeguard, which is always pretty fun. I still work at the same pool I always did, which is in Alphabet City. I’m going to end up getting paid more, which is always fun. I just finished my test, and I passed it. My job has always been really important to me, for a lot of reasons. I like the people there, and I like that I have the opportunity to be able to do something I like every day and get paid for it, which is kind of the point of college, to do something you like with your time, and I feel like I’m doing that.

I’m having a really good time in college, and I can’t wait to go back to school and work in a few weeks, and I feel like I picked the right school for me. And considering how hard it was applying and picking out a school, I think this is going to help me become what I want to become and the person I know I can be.

Yours,
Christine Rivas