You're In The Right Place by Richard Orpin

November 30, 2012

Dear English 030 students,


Welcome, and congratulations on your decision to enroll in the English 030/101 Ace Program. You’re in the right place at the right time. My name is Richard S. Orpin III. Are you nervous? I was. Take a brief moment to look around the class, and see how many others have chosen this path. Introduce yourselves, relax, and get to know your classmates, they are your greatest strengths. Communicate with each other, be open, and speak up in class. We all have something to teach and learn from one another. I give thanks to my former classmates.

Advice for English 030 Students by Laverne Young

Fall 2012.


November 30, 2012



Dear English 030 Student,

First of all I would like to say welcome and congratulation. My name is Laverne Young and I'm 33 yrs. old with two daughters, Aquria is eleven, and Desiree is seven. They were my inspiration to come back to school and fulfill my dream of becoming a Registered Nurse. When I graduated from high school, I had a five year plan for my life. I was the first in my family to graduate from high school and attend college. In that plan I would graduate from college and start my career as a R.N. at the hospital of my choosing. Well as you can see it didn't quite happen that way. I got pregnant with my first daughter, and stopped going to school in the third year of my five year plan. When my second daughter was born I gave up on becoming a R.N. because I felt I didn't have the time and my kids were my priority now. When Desiree started school, I idly sat at home alone, until it hit me: now is the time to finish school while they are learning. I know it won't be easy, but I'm determined to show my kids how you can achieve your dreams even if it doesn't go as you plan. I'm now in my third semester, and have passed all my classes with A's, so something that I’m doing is working, and I would like to share that with you.

Black Man by Reginald Williams (poem)

Note from the author: I wrote this poem in 1998, while living in Albany, New York. I can't really say what inspired this writing, other than the fact these words came to me early one morning, around 4 am. What I want readers to see is that the problems in the black community will only be resolved with teachings and examples coming from strong, positive black men.

Education Narrative by Sorbari Zegenee

Spring 2013


‘’Knowledge is power’’ is what I have heard my entire life of going to school, but going to school and trying to be educated did not make me feel empowered--it only made me confused and angry. The lesson I learned is somewhat similar to Frederick Douglass, in that he believed being educated was more painful than delightful, because he is awake to understanding how his fellow slaves are mistreated. During my education I have felt just a minimum of what Douglass felt, because sometimes I did feel that I had lost my innocence to what was occurring around me, and that I had to also wake up to my responsibilities.

An Education Narrative by Larry A. Bradley

Spring 2013

The most significant lesson that I have learned in life is to listen. When I look back on my life and examine the mistakes that I have made, I am reminded of the time when I went to jail at twenty-four years old simply because I failed to listen to good advice. I had a troubled childhood for one reason – the lack of parenting.

Letter to a Young English 030 Student by Erica Anderson

This is an open letter to all future English 030 students at Forest Park. Fall 2012.


November 30, 2012

Dear New 030 Students:

A Lesson Well Learned by Erica Anderson

This Education Narrative was written after Frederick Douglass. Fall 2012.


I was raised by my maternal grandmother, Lenora Melton, who I witnessed go to work every day except Sundays. Sunday was her day with the LORD! Every time I saw her I wondered why was it so important for her to carry on a conversation with someone who was not there, yet never mustered up the courage to question her about it. My grandmother was a hard worker; she owned her own home, paid her bills on time and didn’t bother anyone. She was a God fearing, sweet, yet stern woman when it came to discipline for my siblings and me. I remember my granny always emphasized “Train up a child the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Later in life I found out that saying was Proverbs 22:6, a scripture from the Bible. She was so nurturing like that, always feeding my spirit without my knowing. My Grandmother was always quoting “The Good Book” as she called it.

Introducing Reginald “Pal” W. by Biancka Lee

This profile essay was written in Spring 2014.



Reggie W. is a gentle and understanding person; he is a well- grounded man, who is very confident, even more so respectful, very direct, and someone who has many life experiences. I would say he is around 6’1, has brown eyes, and a beard. Normally he has on a button up or collared shirt, with a sweater over it, and is a person who always wears sneakers. Ever since I’ve gotten to know him, he and myself share many similarities, such as if we were both to get tattoos we would get the St. Louis Cardinals Red Bird logo. We both also attended Lincoln University, located in Jefferson City, Missouri. If we were to become school teachers we would love to teach History. The most amazing thing of all is my father’s name is also Reginald. Reggie and I have a lot in common and never run out of things to talk about. Let’s meet him.

My Journey Through Life with my Knives by mtk1chef

My knife has a triple- riveted black handle and a 10 inch blade with a tang separating the blade from the handle. The blade is made of tempered high carbon-alloyed steel that keeps a long-lasting sharpness. I have thirty different knives, but the one that I use most is my ten inches chef’s knife made by Wusthor. 

The duties we have done together are endless. For instance, we cut and slice two hundred pounds of baby red potatoes, roasted potatoes, and fifty pounds of tomatoes, ice berg lettuce, and cucumbers for a house salad. My knife and I have learned different techniques and respect for each other along this journey. 

Heavenly Places by Amanda Russ

Once I opened my eyes I realized that I was standing in front of a huge broad golden gate. As I approached this gate, which seemed taller than two tall buildings stacked up on each other and beyond reason, I noticed the perfectly designed art that had a sculpture of the finest creation known to mankind. It had designs that were shapes, curving, and little angels praying and dancing around clouds and figures of that nature. The masterpiece was beautiful. I reached out to touch this lovely gate and to my surprise it was warm. A fine golden gate like this would be cold, icy cold, I thought to myself. I looked around to see these beautiful clouds, unusual clouds matter of fact. The clouds somehow were life like, as if they had a mind of their own. For every movement the clouds made it seemed as if they were ballerinas, dancing, reaching out to give me a welcome hug. It frightened me at first, because I never encountered such lovely clouds that were so pure and bulging before. As if I wanted to leap and dive into them, they would catch me by observing my body figure and wrapping around me like a boxing glove.

Crown Square by Monulita Boey

Crown Square is located in the historic Old North. By the mid-19th century, north St. Louis had emerged as an important manufacturing district. Proximity to the Mississippi River provided businesses with easy access to raw materials and excellent opportunities for shipping their goods.

The business district on North 14th Street was converted into a pedestrian mall in 1977; however, the urban planning experiment failed due to decades of deterioration and abandonment of the historic buildings. Now the area has come a long way though. There’s a farmers market, several neighborhood beautification projects, pedestrian mall, and I can’t forget Crown Candy Kitchen.

Crown Candy Kitchen is a great place to hang out. I recently had a great eating experience there. I visited for lunch and ordered a BLT. I had no idea it would be 13 slices of bacon, fresh lettuce, ripe tomatoes and toasted bread. I washed it down with a thick, chocolate shake. The weather was so nice I decided to take a tour of the newly revived 14th street pedestrian mall.