Fresno County MLK Jr. essay/art contest winners talk, draw about their dreams | Opinion

Fresno County Superintendent of Schools Michele Cantwell-Copher just concluded the 2025 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. educational contest. Schoolchildren from elementary to high schools countywide took part in art, essay and speech contests under a theme “Dreaming Together.”

Winners in all contests were celebrated at an exhibition and awards ceremony that was held at the Clovis Veterans Memorial Building on Thursday.

The Bee, in coordination with the Office of Education, is pleased to present this year’s winning essays that have been lightly edited.

— Juan Esparza Loera, Bee opinion editor

‘I plan to always dream big!’

Dreams are just the start of a bigger objective. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream about equality and civil rights; and his dream helped shape America into how it is today. I plan to live my best life, and I plan to always dream big!

So, why can’t someone like me — someone from Clovis, CA — one day, be president of the United States? As president, I will make sure to provide more funds to mental health programs, solidify gun safety across America, and save female rights.

Mental health is a nationwide issue. Bullying has become more common and serious because kids are using social media to harass their victims online. The torment these cyberbullies cause online can then lead the victim down a path that could be avoided. While schools are offering support for those in need of it and doing their best to stop the bullies, sometimes it is hard to notice who is suffering.

In the article “Bullying,” a problem identified was, “Often, the victims do not receive the help they need because adults either do not see the bullying or choose to ignore it. This makes the victim feel even more isolated and helpless, creating a downward spiral of escalating bullying and worsening the consequences for the victim” (“Bullying”).

As you can see, sometimes it is hard to notice bullying. Lots of schools around America have programs to help, but they are not solving the issue. Most of the time, families can’t afford any of the mental health programs. As president, I will make sure to provide more government funds to those mental health programs and make sure anyone who needs help can get the help they need.

Across the country, states ban books. Books! But we don’t ban guns? So much death is caused because of guns, I wonder if novels such as “To Kill a Mockingbird” or “Mice of Men” have ever resulted in so much death? An issue I care deeply about is gun control. From practicing active shooter drills to hearing about school shootings through the media, as a high-school student, thinking about gun violence at school is a reality for me and my friends.

The feelings of fear and anxiety created by gun violence is a problem in need of a solution. In the article “Gun Control” it shows a timeline of administrations battling over the issue, “In January 2016, after other proposed laws had failed to pass in Congress, Obama issued several executive orders calling for, among other restrictions, expanded federal background checks for gun buyers,including a regulation that would have required the Social Security Administration to submit records of people with certain mental illness to the NICS database.

President Donald Trump signed a resolution that nullified Obama’s order, as the rule “could endanger the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens”(“Gun Control” 11). Both the Democratic and Republican parties should work together to enforce gun safety for armed and unarmed citizens alike. Martin Luther King, Jr., a victim of gun violence, would have supported more gun control. Imagine a world where he wasn’t assassinated; he could have accomplished so much more. As president, I will make sure to have a final solution for gun safety throughout America.

Being a young woman in the world today, I see female rights fading. In 2022, a transgender swimmer, Lia Thomas, participated in a women’s championship swim competition and won. This concerns me to see how a biological man raced against a group of hard-working women after women’s rights activists had fought for decades for women to have their own sports league.

An article on the subject states an interesting discovery, “Other studies show that even after testosterone suppression, top-level transgender women athletes may have an edge when racing against biological women” (“Transgender Athletes Participate in Sporting Competitions and Face Opposition from Some Detractors” ). Of course, a biological man is going to win against a group of biological women. Men are built a certain way and have advantages. I hate to see years of progress towards equality for women go to waste because of transgender equality.

As president I will make sure to save women’s sports and create a different league for transgender citizens. Another solution would be to finally add the Equal Rights Amendment that Alice Paul drafted in 1923. The amendment would solidify women’s rights in the Constitution and secure protection against the new gender forms appearing in society today. Like Malala Yousafzai said, “If one man can destroy everything, why can’t one girl change it.”

If no one is going to do anything about these issues, as president of the United States I will. History shows that most of these problems keep occurring because of the Democratic and Republican parties not working together. For America to be great we need to be unified, and really show that we are the United States.

When I am president, my top priority will be to bring both political parties together to solve these real problems in our society. As Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “We must learn to live together as brothers, or to perish as fools.”

My Paragon William Osler

Any person, no matter what characteristics, can change their own future and how they live their life, if they have the determination. Inspirations can assist with determination. Being inspired will enable a person to create goals to accomplish their dream by allowing that individual to strive for success. Additionally, being inspired will give someone the motivation to work harder. Inspiration has driven me all these years to become a doctor, heal people, and contribute to breakthroughs.

Sir William Osler significantly changed the world into a place where medicine continues to become more advanced. Osler was known for being one of the four professors that founded John Hopkins Medical School. His transformation of the graduate medical education program allowed him to achieve his goal to make medicine have more of a scientific focus.

Even though there are many people who have inspired me, William Osler’s impact on medical education was the most inspirational because he improved medical programs with more of a scientific approach and influenced people to become a doctor.

With time and dedication, William Osler founded Johns Hopkins Medical School, which isimpactful to me. My dream medical school is Johns Hopkins, so founding it has allowed me to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor. Ever since the medical school was founded, it has had a big influence on medicine. John Hopkins was an example to other medical schools to follow due to it being so prestigious and innovative.

According to the History of Medical Education by John Fulton, “Graduates of the Hopkins went from there to other schools, taking the precepts and ideals of men such as Welch and Osler with them, and thus the influence spread.”

Like other John Hopkins graduates, I want to absorb all that I learn to become a better doctor. With all the choices to choose from, I would like to be a neurosurgeon. I will receive a quality education since I could be studying with Nobel laureates, Lasker Award winners, and National Academy of Science winners. Being in class with other intelligent people will allow me to receive the best information to succeed. This medical school will train me to become a doctor. Osler has discovered many breakthroughs, which has impacted and influenced my academic work ethic.

Eventually, William Osler created the first-ever residency program for physicians. A residency program is influential on my journey to becoming a doctor. A residency program prepares doctors to practice medicine independently after medical school.

Back in the 19th century, residency programs were quite informal. According to the AMA website, “At this time, those who did participate in residency programs had certain attitudes about the work they did, which informed how well the programs worked. One principle was that “residents should have sufficient time to pursue problems in depth,” Dr. Ludmerer said. “They’d reflect on the total patient.”

Thoroughness, attention to detail, and high professional authority gave programs a scholarly feel. Residents lived in the hospital — hence residency training — and therefore easily followed the patient from admittance to discharge. Osler wanted to promote the idea that students should learn by observing and interacting with patients. Before residency, doctors would have to work as apprentices with less structured training, informal schools, or beginning their career while inexperienced.

However, when residency programs came into existence, the workers were more experienced and had a higher chance of being successful. They could work with more confidence and joy. With confidence, people can do work more efficiently and with more motivation. His impact changes the lives of future generations by improving clinical skills.

Although there are many individuals who have stimulated my dreams, William Osler’s impact on medicine was the most influential because he improved it with a more analytic approach and influenced more people to become doctors. He has shaped my dream to help future generations and save many people. I can be happier while making other people and their loved ones happier at the same time.

Through research, it is evident that Dr. Osler has been very influential to the medical environment. Because of his passion for medical libraries and medical history, he created his own large medicine library, which contains rare and ancient articles that now encompasses the Osler Library in McGill University. In the many aspects of life, one of the most important is to help people and teach them to discover more ways to be impactful to their community, all of which Dr. Osler had done during his life.

My Dream: To help children

When I get older, I dream of becoming a pediatrician. I want to take it beyond just helping kids medically though, I would also like to help kids spiritually by being a missionary, too. Other countries are in dire need of more doctors, especially pediatricians.

I dream to inspire children to learn about faith while helping them with their medical problems. I want to make a positive, emotional impact on children’s lives. While I’m not quite old enough to begin taking college course in pursuit of this dream right now, I can prepare by studying hard and focusing on my education. I can also study my Bible and get involved in my church as well as volunteer in my community.

I know that becoming a pediatrician will take me many long hours and a lot of work, but I’m ready and willing to face the challenge. Educationally, to become a pediatrician, you must obtain a bachelor’s degree, take the MCAT, and also get accepted into medical school. Once you graduate from medical school, you begin the long licensure process. To become a missionary, you don’t necessarily have to get a degree, but you do have to be well educated in your faith.

You probably don’t think much about doctors until you or someone in your family needs one. That’s when you realize how important they are and how terrible it would be without them. Did you know that a missionary is sort of like a doctor for your soul? You may not even realize you need one, but once a person accepts Christ in their lives, they are radically healed, spiritually, and their lives change dramatically.

It’s kind of like what medicine does to cure an illness, your faith in Christ is the medicine for your soul. This connection between medicine and faith inspires me. I am driven by the desire to make a difference in people’s lives and if I could save just one person, that would impact me just as powerfully as it would the other person.

In Africa, there is only one doctor for an area with about 5,000 people. Can you imagine? Missionaries are even more scarce in those areas.

Like Ida Scudder, who became a missionary and a doctor in 1899, I would love to be able to travel to a different country and devote my life to changing the area I work in. In 1918, Scudder went to India and built a medical hospital from the ground up. She accomplished her dream and inspired the dreams of others. Scudder said, “Once you start, I am sure everything will fall into place. It always has.”

I believe she was referring to how everything has always fallen into place, God’s place and His plan. If God gives us a dream, then all we must do is simply pursue it, and the pieces will fall into place. It may not always be exactly how we thought or go exactly how we planned, but God will reveal the way as we go, if only we take the first step.

After building her medical school, Scudder said, “Money is not the important thing. What you are building is not a medical school. It is the kingdom of God. Don’t error on the side of being too small.”

This quote especially inspires me because if I am ever tempted to believe that just one girl can’t really make that big of a difference, I read her words and remind myself that it’s not the size of the building, or that girl, that makes a difference. It’s the love of God in her heart and the drive to keep going that truly makes a difference. With God’s help and with hard work, climbing any mountain can be achieved!

Another inspirational person that I look up to and think has made a huge impact on today’s generation of doctors is Elizabeth Blackwell. She became a doctor on Jan. 23, 1849 and opened a women’s medical school in 1868. Blackwell was the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States.

When her close friend who was near death confided in her that she wished she had a female doctor, Elizabeth’s inspiration was ignited and she was determined to be the first female doctor. She not only accomplished her goal and made an impact on the lives of others, she also made it possible for other women to become pediatricians by opening a women’s medical school.

Elizabeth paved the way for me and other girls to be able to become a doctor. A quote that stood out to me was when Elizabeth said, “If society will not admit of women’s free development, then society must be remodeled.” If people think you can’t accomplish your goal because, in Elizabeth’s position, you are a woman, then you need to make a change. no one knows what you are capable of until you achieve it, but you can’t achieve anything if you don’t try.

Due to the many brave and courageous people who have inspired others throughout history, today I am able to pursue my goal of becoming a pediatrician who travels around the world to preach about God and help children with any medical need they may have. I am to give children bibles and also tell them all I know about Jesus.

I want to be able to physically help them with whatever disease or sickness they may be dealing with. Our world needs more missionaries and doctors, and I hope to inspire future generations someday. No matter how hard it may be to accomplish this dream, I know I can do it as long as I am patient and study hard.