Local teens command annual poetry contest

Sadness and striving were subjects of the Gilroy library’s winning entries for the annual poetry contest sponsored by the Santa Clara County library district.
The winners, Kristof Sochan, 12, and Tasia McConkie, 15, both Gilroy residents, each received $50 gift cards of their choice, and their poems will be included in a book featuring all the winning entries.
Teen Services Librarian Kelly McKean coordinated with local teachers and received  contest entries from 15 middle-school students and 40 high-schoolers. One winner from each category was chosen.
McKean also entered the winning poets in the Voice of Youth Magazine’s national teen poetry contest. The winner of that contest will be announced at the end of the year.
“I’m really hoping this year we might get a Gilroy national winner,” McKean said.
Kristof, who lives in Gilroy but attends Charter School of Morgan Hill, has been writing poetry since se-
cond grade.
With urging from his fifth grade teacher, Kristof entered his poem “Mount Everest.” He was inspired to write the poem after reading a book about a boy who attempts to climb the mountain.
“I was very surprised when I won,” Kristof said.
His father, Mark Sochan, was happy for his son.
“I was very proud, but mostly I enjoyed how much excitement Kristof had with his $50 win,” Sochan said.
Tasia, who attends Christopher High School, found out about the contest through the library where she volunteers two hours every Saturday for children’s storytime. She started writing poetry in seventh grade, which is when her winning entry “seventh poem” was penned.
“It was actually my seventh poem,” said Tasia, explaining the title. “I liked the content, and I liked how I placed it.”
Like Kristof, Tasia was also surprised by her win.
 “It doesn’t matter who wins, it’s the fact that we put our stuff out there,” she said. “And hopefully more people will know about poetry.”
To read the winning poems, go to the Gilroy library Facebook page at facebook.com/gilroylibrary.
Keeping their eyes on college
One of the greatest misconceptions for students transitioning from middle to high school is that freshman year doesn’t really count, said Marisela Gomez, director of the South Bay region of independent counseling company Collegewise.
“Freshman year is very important,” Gomez said, especially for students who plan to attend college.
Gomez led a Collegewise seminar at the Morgan Hill library last week, one of a series of seminars hosted by the library since spring. Hylary Locsin, adult services librarian, has worked closely with Gomez.
“The seminars have been pretty well attended,” Locsin said. “That’s why we keep having them.”
Founded in 1999 by Kevin McMullin, Collegewise is staffed nationwide with 40 counselors whose mission is to help families understand the college admissions process and the vast number of options available. And it’s never too soon to start.
Hannah Selby, 14, a freshman at Oakwood School, and her grandmother, Peggy Peterson, attended the seminar. Hannah found the talk to be “very informative.”
 “I think I understand more what is being looked at by colleges,” she said.
According to the Collegewise website, the organization has helped 5,000 students attend more than 700 different colleges through the process of assigning families to a specific college counselor who then guides them through every step of the application process.
Gomez explained that most families focus on the name-brand schools when considering colleges. This narrows their choices down to 60 instead of the more than 2,000 colleges they could apply to across the country.
Providing guidance for those families, Gomez helps them understand the many options available when it comes to college acceptance, “regardless of their GP or test scores,” she said.
For more information about events at the Morgan Hill and Gilroy libraries go to sccl.org/morganhill or sccl.org/gilroy.