Memoirs 07-08

Dora Harper, born in Oakland Ca. On November 17, 1989, is a senior currently attending school at Berkeley High. After graduation Dora plans to attend her dream college: Franklin College Switzerland. However, if she somehow does not get accepted, she will attend college somewhere in New England. Dora has traveled to many US states as well as countries overseas (Ghana, Mali, Togo, Amsterdam). Traveling is one of Dora's favorite hobbies, as well as reading. Throughout her childhood Dora guardian was convinced that television was evil, so, to entertain herself, Dora read books. Dora's favorite authors are Octavia Butler and Orson Scott Card. Dora enjoys all different kinds of genres, however, her favorite genre is Science Fiction.

Noah Aitel		Noah was born in Berkeley, CA, and has lived there his entire life. His passions include reading, writing, and martial arts. He plans to attend UC Santa Cruz in the fall. Although unsure of what he wishes to do in the future, he hopes to be able to continue writing fiction in his spare time. The author would like to thank everyone who helped him with his story, all your feedback made the story what it is. He would also like to thank Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, excellent writers who gave him the inspiration to write this story. Anyone wishing to send him praise, job offers, or money should contact him at wassname@gmail.com. He appreciates any feedback on his work, and appreciates unearned money even more.
Spencer Alexander		The authoress is a cool person. She was born in Berkeley, but Oakland is her city, and loves the sciences. She’s easily distracted and sometimes feels the urge to doodle and write stories about characters she has created. She loves her dog, Mac, a German short hair pointer --he is awesome and deserves praise. She also likes a bunch of different stuff, talking about stuff, Fiji water, lists, vanilla mochi, peppermints, oranges, game shows, crossword puzzles, video games, the outdoors, her pins, and her family. In the future she hopes to go into science, learn an insane amount of foreign languages, establish the fifty-first state of North Virginia, and live her life to the fullest.
Astrid Anderson		Astrid Anderson was born in San Francisco in 1990. She loves to write music more than anything in the world, but writing stories is her second favorite. She plans to go to New York City for college and study Literature in school and progress her music career outside of school. She would like to point out that although this memoir portrays the College Preparatory School in a fairly negative light, she did love her English teacher, Ms. Steele, very much and learned an incredible amount from her two French teachers and science teacher, Doc. To praise these teachers, however, would have not fit into the "emotional truth" of the memoir. She would also like to comment that she did not personally know most of the students at CPS, so the generalizations she makes about them are just judgments and most likely don’t accurately portray any of them.
Zahra Axinn		Zahra Axinn was born in London, England but moved to Berkeley soon after. She loves to swim, to make pottery, to read and to sing. Over the course of her life, she has read lots and lots of books, many of which serve as inspiration for her writing.
Stephanie Berry		Stephanie was born in San Francisco but raised in Oakland. She has attended Berkeley schools all her life and she's ready to get out of the Bay Area. Being the shyest among all her friends, she enjoys singing, dancing, and acting. Next fall she plans to attend a Cal State somewhere in L.A. with her favorite cousin Alexis. She is striving to become a pediatrician, fashion designer, and/or aspiring actress.
Rashida Birdlong		Rashida Birdlong --born October 29, 1990 --grew up in Berkeley, CA along with her younger sister Raenah. She enjoys traveling and especially loves photography and design. Rashida plans to attend design school in the fall of 2008, and is hopeful of a successful career as a Fashion Designer.
Rosie Blanckenburg		Rosie Blanckenburg (on envelopes addressed to the family it is spelled numerous different ways) can often be found curled up in a squashy armchair with her nose in a book, accompanied by a mug of hot chocolate . . . not to mention a large quantity of sneeze-causing fur balls, thanks to her insane rabbit. Everyday she travels different worlds with characters and go on exciting adventures. Sometimes she imagines that the hills before her are sleeping dragons and wonders what it would be like if that were true. She has lived in the Bay Area all her life, even though she has an accent. (yes, it's true - her mother is an alien from England, and her father had descended from a trumpetboy who was the illegitamate son of a German Duke).
Zach Bolden
Tavio Carr
Dray Christopher		I am from ninth street on the Water Front it is apart of West Berkeley. I love to write because it helps me express myself without hurting anyone. I am kind of a rapper I use to write poetry when I was younger. Some my interests in life are doing good in school, girls, money, respect, sports, family and friends. I plan to keep writing all my life I write because I feel like it will help keep me level head. A lot of the time when I am upset I try to write what has happen that has made me upset, it normally helps keep me cool so I don't explode. My memoir is about my cliques Beast Mobb the rise and fall. I talked about the fights we had during school. I showed how it changed my life for the better. I plan on taking a creative writing class for my major in college to better my writing skills for I would love to be another spike lee film writer and or director.
Grace Coates		Gracie Coates was born in Berkeley, CA and learned how to walk at seven and a half months. When she was in preschool she was too small to use the toilet on her own because she would otherwise fall into the bowl. Now she writes the occasional short story in her Short Story class at Berkeley High.
Victoya Coleman
Gabe Damast
Chloe DeLancie		Chloe De Lancie lives in Berkeley with her dad, and Walnut Creek with her mom. She has two siblings: an older sister named Olivia and a younger brother named Dylan. She attended the East Bay French-American School in Berkeley for nine years, then went on to continue her education at International High School in San Francisco. She transferred to Berkeley High at the beginning of her sophomore year. In her spare time she enjoys playing soccer and reading. Some of her favorite authors include Khaled Hosseini, Dan Brown, and Jodi Piccoult.
Nora Donahue
Katrina Groth		Katrina Groth was born in Oakland, California on October 9, 1990. She has lived in the same house in Berkeley since she was born and has always loved the diverse culture of the city. Since she was three months old, she had a Chinese influence in her life because of family friends. This caused her to develop a love of language and a love for foreign cultures as she learned Mandarin along with English while growing up and experienced Chinese culture. As soon as she was able, she took French in school and began to dream about going to France and living in their culture. Katrina aspires to go into the medical field but to be able to use her language skills in her career. She also wishes to publish a fictional novel later on in her life.
Chris Hansen
Dora Harper		Dora Harper, born in Oakland Ca. On November 17, 1989, is a senior currently attending school at Berkeley High. After graduation Dora plans to attend her dream college: Franklin College Switzerland. However, if she somehow does not get accepted, she will attend college somewhere in New England. Dora has traveled to many US states as well as countries overseas (Ghana, Mali, Togo, Amsterdam). Traveling is one of Dora's favorite hobbies, as well as reading. Throughout her childhood Dora guardian was convinced that television was evil, so, to entertain herself, Dora read books. Dora's favorite authors are Octavia Butler and Orson Scott Card. Dora enjoys all different kinds of genres, however, her favorite genre is Science Fiction.
Katie Henry		Katie Henry is a member of the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Comma Abuse), and in her free time, enjoys psychoanalyzing literary characters and learning utterly useless languages. If you needed to find Katie at 8 on a Thursday night, you could invariably find her in front of a school computer, trying to remember whether “with” is capitalized in newspaper headlines. Though authors sometimes reveal personal issues within stories, Katie would like to mention in advance that she is not a fundamentalist Mormon and as of yet, has not been married to a forty-year-old man.
Nick Hoeper-Tomich		My name is Nick Hoeper-Tomich. I was born in Berkeley and have lived here all my life. I am an avid cyclist and snowboard frequently during the winter. I have raced mountain bikes for the last four years. My racing experience has given me focus which helps on and off the race course. My writing influence is the world around me. There is so much to see and do that it really inspires me. I plan to attend UC Santa Cruz next year and continue racing bikes in college. My memior is about how I broke my arm snowboarding and how this experience has changed me.
Naomi Jackson
Nadav Kariv		My main interest in life is soccer. I eat, sleep and breathe soccer. However, I do have other interests as well. One of my favorite things to do if I am not playing soccer is poker. I love to play poker because of the mixture of skill and luck involved. The great thing about poker is that you can be the worst player and win, and the best player and lose. Another reason why I love poker is that you need to be able to read people. Reading people is a great skill, and you practice it while playing poker. However, the main reason I love poker is that you can win a lot of money.
Scott Kellert		Hi there, I'm Scott Kellert. I am looking for a single female reader for my memoir. I like a smart reader with a sense of humor, and must love dogs. I enjoy a good pina colada, and long walks in the rain. My favorite books are intense action thrillers. I especially like to curl up with a good Michael Crichton novel on the weekends. I am born an raised in Berkeley California, but plan on attending college somewhere on the east coast. I am especially interested in the wonderful world of mathematics. If you're interested click my link.
Dylan Kennamer		Dylan is not an inspiring writer, but he realizes that this will severly hinder his quest to become one with the great Rayshawn, an accomplished 21st century writer who explores the subtle differences between ambience and decor. Rayshawn is also known to go stupid in Madden. Dylan also aspires to live up to the initials he shares with the famed banana poacher, Donkey Kong.
Nico Kiefer		I write because I love writing, it's that simple.
Ethan Kimball
Courtney Knott
Naomi Krupitsky Wernha		Naomi enjoys notebooks and chocolate and airplane tickets to foreign countries. She does not enjoy tomatoes or the feeling when cold air is coming in one tiny spot in her jacket.
Will K		Will K was born in Berkeley, CA and is graduating in Berkeley High School?s class of 2008. After the wonderful years of high school, Will will be attending college in either Boston, Oregon, or Vermont. He hopes to pursue a career in sports journalism, and is currently the esteemed school newspaper?s sports editor. He enjoys skiing, hiking, and other various outdoor activities. Will enjoys listening to all types of music and has played the clarinet since he was in the fourth grade. Look for great things to come in the very anticipated life of William Louis K.
Alina Larson		Alina mostly spends her spare time worrying about whether she's worrying too much. When she isn't doing this, she's usually worrying about something else. She's going to save herself some trouble and make a point of NOT worrying about whether you'll enjoy this conventional short story, if it's all the same to you. Enjoy it-- or don't-- at your leisure.
David Levine		David is a seventeen year old senior who doesn't really like for his writing to be read, though that shouldn't stop you from reading this if you want to. Just don't randomly come up to him and tell him that you read his story. He'll be confused by that for a long time... In his spare time, he likes to climb things: Trees, buildings, ladders... It doesn't really matter. Just as long as he can climb. He also enjoys going on treasure hunts with pirates and climbing glaciers.Someday, after getting a degree in electrical engineering and computer science, he hopes to move to Boston, mutate his DNA so that he sprouts wings, and learn how to fly. He thinks that that could be pretty fun.
Mariel Lippe		Mariel Lippe was born and raised in Berkeley, California where she lives separately with both her mother and father. She enjoys the subjects of science and art and plans to major in biology while attending college. Mariel plays an array of sports including ultimate frisbee, volleyball, ping pong, and diving. She considers herself to be an exceptionally adept snowboarder and she awaits the ski season with anticipation. She has also played Piano for 10 years.
Amanda Loo		Amanda was born in Berkeley and raised in Kensington. She likes Saturday mornings, crossword puzzles, and coffee, preferably all together. Next year she hopes to attend college where it snows, even though she hates the cold. She is not sure whether she wants to be a rocket scientist or an English major, but she'll have fun filling her general education requirements and trying to find out.
Ben Manlove		Ben Manlove is a natural born wild child. His nicknames range from "Hot Sweaty Manlove" to "Ben 'U Gotta Have Some' Manlove." At 17, Ben is an only child, living in a white privileged home in the North Berkeley Hills. His life revolves around baseball and socializing. He loves the outdoors, especially beaches where on a sunny day he can sit out and catch cosmic rays. Ben participates in many recreational activities as well. From frisbee to drawing Nor-Cal stars, Ben spends a lot of his time with a smile on his face. Ben is a focused individual and will go far one day. But, for now, he remains in Ms. Wilson-Scott's class writing memoirs for audiences to feast on.
Nico Martinucci		Hi! My name is Nico Martinucci, and I'm a senior at Berkeley High! I'm not much of a writer, so this is my first crack at memoirs, and I hope you like it! I'm a musician most of the time. I play mostly clarinet (in two different orchestras), but I also play a little saxophone and a little guitar. Next year, I'm most likely going to be attending University of Washington in Seattle. Enjoy!
Zach McCoy		A stubborn crazy kid raised in Oklahoma. willing to do whatever it takes to be there for the team. Loves his team and the game of football.
Byron Mcgovern		Byron hopes to attend Harvard and study something really prestigious. After he gets rich from his career in the prestigious subject, Byron plans to work as a mechanic. Occasionally, he will leave work to fly his private fighter jet around the world or take a trip on his private cruise ship to Monte Carlo. However, Byron does like to plan for the worst, and if he does not get rich through his prestigious degree, he will turn to a life of crime; probably the most prestigious life of crime ever lived. For now, however, Byron’s only aspiration is to get a better grade in Ms. Wilson’s class.
Bryanna McIntosh		Bryanna McIntosh was born on may 16, 1990. She is the oldest child and has been raised in a single parent household. She has a 15 year old disabled brother and a 5 year old sister. Her mother works a lot and she helps the household when needed. For my short story i decided to write something funny rather then sad but i hope you enjoy it.
Terrance Means		Terence means was born on august 25, 1990 in east Oakland at the highland hospital. His birth mother was a drug addict and an alcoholic, So Terence was put up for adoption by the state of California when he was only about 3 weeks of age. He was adopted thereafter by a good mother and father. His father which was loved by a lot of people passed away when Terence was only 3. Growing up all over the bay area from San Francisco to Oakland, Albany, Berkeley and all the way to Richmond, Terence really got to be a “Bay Boy”. One of Terence’s favorite things to do as a hobby, growing up, was art. He loved to paint and design things, paint models, color pictures and such things. He was influenced by just about his whole family. Family members like his mom, uncle, grandmother, cousins, and even his younger brother. He plans to graduate and go to Berkeley community college, and from there he is not sure.
Hannah Michahelles		Hannah enjoys Into the Wild, Jonathan Saffran-Foer, Arrested Development and Rayshawn.
Spencer Moody		Spencer Moody's dream as a child was to become one of three things: a ninja, a ninja turtle, or the emperor of a distant land. The failure to live up to these lofty aspirations has in turn caused many sleepless nights and heated internal existentialist debates. His writing reflects none of this. His writing does however include a number of cheap laughs which will entertain those who aren't particularly intellectually sophisticated. If giggling and mild amusement are serious pastimes of yours, then go no further, you have found your mecca.
Mayra Morales
Riva Morton		Riva is pretty much just herself. She's been known to be called crazy, and she would never deny this, except that she probably knows more about mental illnesses than any of her accusers. Riva intends to study psychology in college, and, if she gets in to Hampshire, the concept of thought, itself. Her primary hobby used to be questioning reality, but she's sort of outgrown that over time. Now, she just tries to get everyone else to question it. Riva writes because she doesn't seem to have any alternative. Sometimes, there are just words in your head, and if you don't put them on paper, or at least type them, they'll be there forever. Riva shares her writing because she's determined to change the world. Wish her luck.
Kyler Murlas		Kyler. Berkeley High. Mac & Cheese is my choice of edibles. I like the Kraft and the Annie's - yes I like both. I threaten at six feet two inches, one hundred and eighty pounds - a fit body type. Blond hair, blue eyes. Feet, size eleven and a half sometimes twelve, in mens... I like shoes. They call me "el tiburón" in the pool, and "LSD" on the court. I've been told if one stares into my eyes celestial pools of renewal or abominations yielding the fury of Pelides can be seen. I reside in the temple known as Cee during the fourth hour. Do not seek me; If I wish to be sought you will be found. Surfing.
Kara Murray		My name is Kara and I was born and raised in Oakland, but have attended Berkeley public schools since the 6^th grade. I’ve always enjoyed creative and enjoy the opportunity to do it in a classroom environment. Aside from writing my passion is in social work and I hope to eventually become a teacher or youth counselor and perhaps major in some sort of humanities studies. But don’t quote me on that. My memoir is about dealing with theft when the culprit is close to home.
Sarah Neuhaus		Sarah Neuhaus was born and raised in Berkeley, CA. She enjoys reading, making artwork, and hanging out with her friends. She loves reading murder mysteries, and her favorite author is Dorothy L. Sayers. Sarah plays softball, soccer, and field hockey and has danced Flamenco since she was five. Of all her sports, she loves softball the most and hopes to be able to play in college next year. Her short story is about a friendless girl who goes through the weirdest experience she's ever had.
Chelsea Nicholas		Chelsea was born and raised in Berkeley and Oakland. She loves giving advice, eating, having deep conversations, making new friends, photography, and writing. The events and experiences throughout her life are what inspire her to write. Lox has just moved into a new house in a beautiful neighborhood. Everything is perfect until he starts hearing voices.
Isaac Pasternak		Isaac Pasternack (born Isaac Pasternack on June 4th, 1990) is an Israeli-born American hard rock bass guitarist and vocalist. He is best known as "The Demon", his blood-spitting, fire-breathing, and tongue-wagging persona in the hard rock band Kiss, an act which he co-founded in the early 1970s.
Nicole Petiet		Nicole Petiet was born in Berkeley and has lived there all her life with her mom and three cats. Two of her favorite activities are skiing and rowing. She has been skiing since before she could walk and rowing for the past four years. She hopes to go to New York next year for college. Nicole wants to major in English and become a writer. Enjoy!
Luisa Popovich
Jamesha Rainey
Gina Rapaport		Hello, my name is Gina. I am calm sometimes, but mostly stressed out. I really enjoy writing short stories because I find so much inspiration to write. However, I also enjoy dancing, singing, basketball, beaches, painting, and of course, my cat PEEDY because he's a joke. Anyhoo, I hope you like my story!
Noah Rose		Noah Rose is a very nice boy. Sometimes his hair is long and flowing, but requires far too much attention. Sometimes his hair is short, and then it emphasizes his large facial features. Sometimes his minimal facial hair grows in diagonal lines across his jawline. This would be awesome if it would grow in thicker. Tales of his boyhood are the only things more interesting than his intense, intense amber-brown eyes, eyes that seem to stare into your past and future at the same time.
Rachel Ruggles		Rachel Ruggles has lived in an intimate neighborhood in North Berkeley her entire life. Here, she has developed a keen sense of community and friendship. She has attended a variety of different schools, both public and private, but has found her ultimate niche at Berkeley High. While she loves creative writing, she finds her greatest inspiration through the language of music, and plans to attend Conservatory next year.
Silvie Senauke		When described by her friends, the first word that comes to mind about Silvie is "Curly." Clearly, we are all mesmerized by her abundance of luscious curls. Even her college interviewers have mentioned this genetic blessing. Besides the mass of glory on top of her head, Silvie Senauke is a crazy girl. Read her memoir— Freudian slip—I mean, short story to find out more. Kidding, kidding.
Nate Simon		My name is Nate. You should read my memoir. I’m not sure who would actually be reading this, but if its a pedophile please stop at the words go away in all capitals. GO AWAY. For the rest of you, have fun reading this, but don’t set your expectations too high. Enjoy.
Kayla Sims		Kayla Sims was born in Oakland on July 26th 1990, but has lived in Bezerkley, in the same house, for her entire life. Currently she has a career at being the typical high school senior with a recurring case of senioritis, and is rushing to get things done for college. So far she has managed to finish applications for seven universities, on time, and got four acceptances (so far). So this senior has every intention of attending a CSU or a UC. In other news, she's a bit quirky, is socially inept, loves writing and drawing, hates science and reads scary amounts of books. Oh, and is very, very bad at being on time for deadlines. This bio itself is over a month overdue.Whoops. So, I now present to you my story.
John Stevick		My name is John Stevick and I am a rising Senior attending Berkeley high School. I am seventeen years old and my favorite subjects consist of English, Math, and Science. I aspire to be the best in all that I do; I am prolific. I consider myself to be a serious student when it comes to academics, however I must admit that I don't take anything TOO seriously. My main interests are sports and just being around other people. At this point and time I have experienced a magnificent life. And being so, I try to embrace all that is given to a person in life. I truly enjoy life in all its complexities and cultures. At this moment I am attempting a career as an R&B singer. however, if it is not meant to be I will be a mechanical engineer or the president of the United States.
Ben Stolurow		White, male, eighteen, seeking successful career in the literary arts.
Ashley Swihart		Ashley Swihart is a senior at BHS. She has attended BUSD schools her whole life and likes them very much. Ashley has three older siblings, and two loving parents. She is interested in studying Psychology in college, but not quite sure where she wants to go yet. She loves writing stories so that’s why she joined this class this year and she hopes you like this one!
Sharlana Turner		Sharlana is a student at Berkeley High School and is now a senior. She enjoys singing, rapping, poetry, as well as song writing. On her spare time she is at the studio or just living life to the fullest. Writing this memoir has “ helped me develop my writing” she explains. Her inspirations are her grandmother, experiences, and the haters. She is determined and has potential so readers please look out for her next project!
Francesca Villa		Francesca was born in Oakland but she now lives happily in Berkeley. Francesca enjoys lots of things. Some of her favorite activities include: Tennis, hanging out with friends and on Thursdays she enjoys watching her favorite T.V show The Office.
Maxine Wally		Maxine Wally likes long walks on the beach, romantic candle lit dinners, monster truck shows, writing short stories, reading, receiving an education, and having deep conversations with Jasper Hitchen. Food is also a necessary indulgence; hook her up with a lemon meringue pie and she is solid. One day she hopes to speak with Barack Obama and Lil Wayne.
Carolyn Wegner		I’m Carolyn. I’m from California. I love to have absolutely nothing to do on the weekends. I love rainy, foggy weather, being outdoors, and traveling in Scandinavia. I live for sports. I mountain and road bike, but have been out for a year because of a back problem. Now I swim. I went to Saint Mary’s freshman year, but decided to come to Berkeley High for a variety of reasons (I explain in my memoir…). Next year I plan to go to a college on West Coast, and then head to France to become fluent in French during my junior year.
Max Wessell		-Born 9/16/89 12:30 weather lightening storm -Four goes to Grizzly Peak pre-K -Five, Bancroft kinder garden -Six, B.U.S.D will not accept Bancroft as a kinder garden so I have to repeat it -Eight, start taking Paxil -Till seventh I refuse to think about it -Seventh and Eighth see memoir -Ninth about up forthcoming
Ben White		Ben White lives in Berkeley CA with his father and his younger sister. He spends every other weekend in Fairfield, visiting his mother and his step father. He is inspired by James Frey, Sister Souljah, David Henry Sterry and the creativity in the hip hop culture. He strongly believes that “no one is perfect but everyone can do better.” He plans on attending SF state and majoring in psychology. He doesn’t want to give too much away, but here is a brief introduction to his memoir, “The flames eat through my skin with ease, causing my body to go through unbearable agony… The pain causes a piercing scream to escape my lungs which echoes through my ears. I hear demons and their demented laughter. I hear the fire tearing through my tissue. I hear………a baby?”
Leo Wiggins		Leo was born a while back, and is alive to this day. He hopes to see tomorrow, but, as he says, “Tomorrow really only is the yesterday of a week from five days ago, and I never much cared for pickles.” Hopefully, one day in the near future, he will deem himself sane enough to be taken seriously. Until that time, however, he enjoys reading books, writing short stories, writing stories that aren’t as short as stories, but are still pretty short, playing videogames, and cards, and living through music and art.
Rowan Witebsky		Rowan was born in Berkeley, California. Besides her parents, she has one sister, a dog, and a cat. She is interested in art, especially drawing, and writing. Rowan has been learning French at school for four years, as well as taking classes in Japanese since she was in Eight grade. She likes traveling, and would love to visit either country in later life, though she has been to France before. Outside of school, Rowan volunteers as a math tutor, and assists at the Berkeley Animal Shelter. Next year, Rowan is planning to attend college, either at a UC school, or out-of-state.
Jeremy Wong		Jeremy is freaked out everyday by living life. He can't go outside anymore without his umbrella and can not speak without his magic pen. Jeremy's story is about a farmer who has gone deranged. In no way does this story take on the movie SAW, or any of its sequels. In fact, Jeremy has never seen the series, period. If you hate these types of story, you know, horror stories, then he suggests you go give your local police officer a hug because he, or she, protects you night and day, like a vigilante should.
Thomas Zhu		My name is Hong, who is frequently called Thomas, has already “come” to this world for seventeen years. Well, in my first fourteen years, I spent my lifetime to live in China with my parents. Although I felt confident when I stepped onto this new country three years ago, I did not imagine how difficult for me to learn English. Oops, back to my memoir, I would like talk about my past; but not to write a memoir, because I believe memory should not be put into languages- no matter how true it is.