Officer Robert Zdziarski (Garfield-7th Period)

Officer Robert Zdziarski is a police officer that has 22 years on the job. He graduated from Curie High School.  He has worked as a security guard at Target; he had always been fascinated with how the security guards at a store would catch shop lifters. He then fell in love with helping others. Officer Bob has a master’s degree in business.

Officer Bob works as a Chicago Police Officer. He’s been thought of as a hero for the recent things he’s done. He helps and protects us when we leave and he has helped people in his neighborhood. His biggest act of heroism is saving kids from a building that was on fire. He said “I’m the type of person that if someone shows up with a gun instead of running away I go towards him.”

“What do you treasure the most?” we asked; Officer Bob said “my family.” Officer Bob values his family more than anything. The next most valuable thing would be his community. He has been raised in this very same community and is working toward making it even better. “I want my community to be the shining star in Chicago.” 

             “The true heroes are the ones that don’t think of themselves as heroes.” As officer Bob says that for example people who help clean this building every day, the people that after the huge blizzard still do their job in picking up your garbage from the alley. Advice for young people would be a bumper sticker quote “stay in school”. Officer Robert Zdziarski has shown all of our heroic act traits for example he’s there when we need him, his neighbors go to him and say “there’s smoke in my garage can you go check it out?” even if it was 1am he still got up and helped.

Written by Leonel D.

Yaritssa Elisalde (Garfield-7th Period)

                     All communities have a hero. A person who works at John Hancock as a social worker and someone who people look up as a hero would be Yaritssa Elizalde. Besides going to school and listening to other students lives, she likes to watch and play soccer when she has enough time. Yaritssa has been a social worker for almost four to five years. She helps students with their writing, and joined a program called ESL because she felt that students needed help in English.
                          Yaritssa Elizalde as a social worker, loves talking to students. She also likes hearing what they go through in life. We asked her how she earned what she has right now in life and she responded,  “If you want something in the future, you’re going to have to earn it, so what I did in life during college is go to school and learn in order for me to earn my college degree.” Yaritssa faced a lot of challenges in life; her parents didn’t give her support. They gave her a disapproving look because of what she is right now. Her parents expected her to be a teacher. Yaritssa did whatever she could have done, to get her education.
                       Above all, Ms.Elizalde values friends, family, and education. When we asked her why she values education she responded by saying, “Education is the key to a lot of things in life.” For example, wherever you go, such as to go apply for a job they look at your school records. School helps you get in good jobs. Elizalde was not the best student in her class, but she did her best to get the education she needed in order for her to become a great therapist. She reached her goals to where she is right now. She never thought she would be what she is right now.
                  Many people have different definitions for heroism. Our hero, for instance, said that she defines heroism as “someone who does something for someone. Someone who helps other people that makes a change in their life.”   In order to be a hero, you have to prove other people wrong. You also have to make a change in life, and prove people you’re not like any other. Her advice for young students was to go to school and learn, not to just sit around and play around with students, but to sit and hear and do what teachers tell us to do.

Written by Guadalupe H.

Marlin Estrada (Pavona-4th Period)

On Thursday, February 2, we had the pleasure to interview Marlin Estrada. Marlin is the dance instructor and manager of her own dance studio, Matli Dance Academy. Before this, she had taken dance lessons and gymnastics. In order to work as a manager/ dance instructor, she spent about 6 or 7 years in college. As a result, she received her master’s degree. She studied dance at Columbia College. Marlin has been working as a dance instructor/ manager for about 7 to 8 years.

 

Marlin has faced many challenges, but also achieved many goals in her work. Being both a dance instructor and your own manager is a tough thing to do. Marlin said, “Its hard work, but it’s worth it.” Growing up surrounded by gangs, Marlin felt that dance would be a good way to help children and teens now stay out of trouble, and she loves to dance, so she opened up her dance studio. There Marlin teaches many children new and fun dance moves, which are later performed in a recital. A challenge for Marlin was not only having too stay in good physical shape, but also the big financial risk to start her own company and to keep it going.

 

Marlin cares deeply about her work. Not only is it something she loves to do, but she is also helping the community. She feels that her dance studio is a place where the children and teens in her community can go to escape or take part in a positive activity. At the same time, she feels a sense of pride when watching her students perform a dance that she choreographed. Marlin also said, “It’s definitely worth it do what you love to do.”

 

Marlin said, a hero “may not know they’re a hero, but act on a bigger idea. They act in the interest of other people.” That is exactly what she does, she helps her community. Marlin also gave some great pieces of advice. She said, “Always be proud, but never satisfied.” So we should always be proud of what we’ve accomplished, but still leave room to improve. Another great piece of advice was, “When you’re young, just trust the process.” Based on all that she has said and done, Marlin Estrada can be considered a hero.

Written by Marcela B.

Joanna Klonsky (Pavona-4th Period)

On Thursday, February 2nd, we had the pleasure of interviewing Joanna Klonsky, a communication consultant. She is twenty-seven years young. For Joanna’s job she prepares speeches for politicians.  She has had this job for about five years and said, ‘I always cared about politics,’ which is why she chose this field. Being a communication consultant, she has her own business and said it was difficult in the beginning although now she is doing well. 

Joanna has faced many challenges but also achieved many goals in her job.  She said she faced a couple of challenges throughout her job. She stated some were ‘Being young, I’m twenty-seven, being a woman with my own business; they can mess with you, and not pay you on time’. In addition to that, she claimed she likes her job preparing speeches for politicians and said she has cared about politics since she was young. Even though she goes through having to work with underdogs, people who are unlikely to win, she continues to do her job very well.

Joanna cares deeply about her work. She believes that the job should not be about how much money someone makes. She thinks it should be about how well someone does at their job. Joanna stated, ‘Good guys don’t win a lot’.  She also thinks that people think there are backroom deals, so she tries to gain her clients’ trust and let them believe in what she says so they will not think badly of the politicians. 

Joanna thinks a hero does something brave. She said what she thinks a hero is, for example, would be someone who saves a person’s life. Joanna does not consider herself a hero. Although she does not consider herself a hero, she does make a difference for people. We asked if there was any advice she could give us. She said, ‘Don’t assume you’re too young to kick yourself out of the process’. By this she means not to let your age convince you that you cannot make a change. This is because you can, you as one person can do so much with hard work and dedication. Joanna said she would like to see more teens contributing to politics. She would like to see teens helping out with making posters and what not, to help the elections. She has seen teens help out with stuff like paperwork, making signs, and would like to see more of that. Due to her contributions to the community, she is a hero.

Written by Malgorzata K.