The Class of 1994

This school year City Times has honored the best on the playing fields. This week, we pay tribute to the high school valedictorians from the Central City.

The outstanding students were asked: “What kind of future does Los Angeles hold for you and your classmates?”

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Sharon L. Walker

School: Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies

Future: USC, environmental engineering

Quote: “Los Angeles offers a plethora of opportunities for my classmates and me. Our diverse goals all have outlets in this city. My needs are met by USC, while other students can already find jobs in their different fields and interests, or they may attend the numerous other institutions of higher education in the area.”

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Dolores Gomez

School: John C. Fremont High

Future: UC Riverside, psychology

Quote: “I think the class of ’94 is determined to succeed in the future. They have been constantly motivated by their high school teachers and peers to do their best. We have shown great potential these past three years and we have proven that we can make it.”

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Keida Bratcher

School: Washington Preparatory High

Future: UC Santa Barbara, pre-med

Quote: “Los Angeles has become a city in which my peers are no longer comfortable. If the future is to be promising, we must go about changing the way things happen so our children will not be as uncomfortable as we are.”

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Daniel Mahashin

School: Pilgrim High

Future: medicine or engineering

Quote: “Los Angeles holds for my friends and me a bright and promising future where people of different races work together harmoniously in one of the leading cities of the world. Such a future can come true if we forget our differences and start to work together today.”

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Jorge Castillo

School: Loyola High

Future: Georgetown, international business

Quote: “Los Angeles provides a future filled with diversity and togetherness. Many different cultures will continue finding homes here, and residents of Los Angeles will always benefit from learning about others.”

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Anna Songco

School: Immaculate Heart

Future: USC, public health

Quote: “This city possesses a distinct character defined by every culture, religion and ethnic group in the world. Though some believe this is to be L.A.’s curse, it is in fact this city’s most valuable resource. The class of 1994 and all youth today are faced with the challenge to take this so-called liability and make it an asset.”

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Sung Hyun Kim

School: Crenshaw High

Future: Occidental College, physics and mechanical engineering

Quote: “Los Angeles will be a model for all other cities in the United States as a place where citizens integrate among themselves and always strive to find solutions for social problems which they fear.”

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Camrin Servio

School: Cathedral High

Future: Stanford, medicine

Quote: “The fact is that Los Angeles is becoming more diversified. In essence, we as a people will be able to understand one another and become closer as a family. The future holds for my classmates and me a better opportunity to work together, thus resulting in a better economy.”

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Dianna V. Bautista

School: Huntington Park High

Future: Cal State Long Beach, physical therapy

Quote: “The city of Los Angeles holds for us good times and hardships, ups and downs, but more importantly it holds for us opportunities. We can become whatever we desire. However, it is up to us to take hold of those opportunities and create a better future for ourselves.”

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Edgar Gutierrez

School: Jefferson High

Future: Cal State Los Angeles, philosophy or biology

Quote: “A future with enough desire, dedication and discipline is the kind of future that Los Angeles holds for me and my classmates. Substandard education, confusion in family values and violence are some of the issues that affect our community and ourselves as human beings. . . . We know that we always have to look up and not down, forward and not back, out and not in, and to always lend a hand.”

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Anacani Torres

School: Bell High

Future: Mt. St. Mary’s College

Quote: “Los Angeles holds a future full of hope. My classmates and I are all working to make this a better place to live. We are preparing ourselves for a life that now requires more from us. If we are prepared, if we continue to improve our lives, we can expect our future to be full of success and happiness.”

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Long Man Lo

School: Abraham Lincoln High

Future: UCI, computer engineering

Quote: “With the growing technological environment in this city, (Los Angeles) will offer me a job in which employment is almost guaranteed. Computer careers have grown rapidly in the past few years, and sooner or later I’ll be part of that growing field to rebuild and enhance this city.”

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Rocio Leonor Carlos

School: St. Michael’s High

Future: Cal State Dominguez Hills, education

Quote: “As the years pass on, Los Angeles becomes a more challenging city. Since we are the future, it’s up to us to accept these challenges and never give up on our goals. We need to believe in ourselves and keep in mind that we will be successful if we keep trying hard.”

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Veronica Silva

School: Roosevelt High

Future: UCLA, biology

Quote: “My classmates and myself will have to face the racial issues which have always stuck around in our city. We will have to help people come out of their ignorance and acknowledge and accept the differences in people to make this a better city for ourselves and for future generations.”

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Edgar Chavez

School: Manual Arts

Future: Colgate University, pre-med

Quote: “I plan to live in Los Angeles and make a contribution to the place that helped make me. I want to give as much if not more than what I received. In Los Angeles, I will build my home and create my family.”

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Georgina Contreras

School: Manual Arts Magnet

Future: Pomona College, pre-med

Quote: “Though Los Angeles is known to be a dangerous and troubled city, its teen-agers are realizing that education is the road to follow. Los Angeles holds a positive future for myself and my classmates. By working together, we can all make (it) a better place.”

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Denise Petschauer

School: South Gate High

Future: UC Irvine, mathematics

Quote: “In our future, Los Angeles will be a city of high inflation, high unemployment, increased drug and gang violence, with an economy that will hit rock bottom. However, my generation is the one that will restore our crumbling . . . communities to a prosperous tomorrow.”

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Ricardo Mora

School: South Gate High

Future: USC, pre-med

Quote: “Los Angeles holds a bright future for all students who are willing to put forth an effort. Its diversity and cultural mix provide the student with many options and many plans to obtain this goal.”