Hillsdale High School

From the amazing Marty Roberts, ESL teacher at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, California (check out Newsweek's May 2008 article on how Hillsdale is a small school making a "big difference" here):

Dear President-elect Obama,

My name is Maria. I am a Latina student at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, California . I hope you are well. Now that you have a lot work to do, I want to tell you that I am very proud because you are making your dream come true. Like you, I have a dream in my life. Influence people to not discriminate against others for their appearance or because they come from another country. My dream is very hard to achieve, but I hope you can help me to change the wrong ideas that people have in our country because the world where we lived has many bad influences. I think that if we work together we will make a difference by changing the perspective of racist people. My other hope is that you can help me to stop deporting families. I know that you can perfectly understand this situation because you have a family and you would not like, that a group of people came to your home and separated you from the people you love. I thank you for paying attention to my letter and I hope you can collaborate with me.

Sincerely,

Maria

Dear President Obama:

Hello! My name is Haruka. I’m Japanese student. About two years ago I came to the U.S. and started to learn English at Hillsdale high school in San Mateo, California. I have many hopes and changes for the future, and I want you to know about them. First, I hope to decrease a number of homeless people and number of people who lose their jobs. As you know, the economic condition is bad; so many people are losing their jobs, and some of them have become homeless. Other countries have gotten economic damage from the U.S. as well. I really want to change the economy, but I do not have power to change. I do not have an idea to change the economic so that I hope you to make economic condition better than now. This is important because if the economy becomes better, many people can get a better life.
Likewise, there are still some wars in the world, and everyday some people are losing their relatives or friends. I hope peace will prevail in the world; I want a peaceful world. This is important for me because I believe that nobody wants to have war even those people who are fighting right now. I also believe that everybody should have a chance for a happy life. So, please change our world by collaborating with other countries or having more communication time with them. Finally, if there is something that I can do, I could help you.

Sincerely,

Haruka

Dear President Obama:

Hello! My name is Chia-Ying. I’m from Taiwan, and I moved to California two years ago. As the new President, I am looking forward to seeing you change the bad events of the past and create a bright new future.
As the world is changing, I see the conditions of life living is getting worse. Therefore, I would like to see some improvements of the issues that we’re facing and earn a better living condition. I would like to see the changes of providing more health cares to citizens; the raising of economy which people don’t have to worry about the existing of money; fix the global warming- encourage people to do recycle; no war anymore the cause to much for everyone living around the Earth; increasing of the education fund so students can focus of the work that their supposed to instead of worrying about the tuition.
Certainly, as a citizen of the United States, I would like to congratulate President Obama is becoming our new president of America.

Yours sincerely,

Chia-Ying

Dear President Obama:

My name is Ali and I was born in 1993 in Iran. In the U.S. there are few problems that are very important. For instance, global warming, gas prices, health care, wars between countries around the world are external conflicts that can be changed with some helps. I would like to see everybody have healthcare and be able to go to the hospital. This is important because the healthcare is not affordable and many people have problem to pay for the healthcare. Fixing the healthcare can help the country in few ways because the healthier the people the healthier the country is. Peace between the countries also will help everybody because the technology will be better and the life will be easier. Life and technology are related because we can use technology to do things that are impossible for humans. For example, if there is peace between countries and every human being, we can work together and be able to solve the unsolved mysteries of life. Also we can find life in another planet and move to the other planet if the global warming destroyed the Earth. Global warming is another big problem that can be solved with teamwork and recycling. This will help us to have to a cleaner earth and healthier people and need fewer healthcare.

Sincerely,

Ali

Dear President Obama:

My name is Matey and I came from Bulgaria in August 2006. Right now, I am a student in 11th grade and live in San Mateo, California. After you become President of the United States, I hope to see some improvements in this country that will advance my life and the life of my family. First, I would like the immigrants’ education from their countries to be counted so they would continue to work based on their profession and experience that they have from the past. My parents have BAs from Sofia University and 25 years of experience as journalists at Bulgarian News Agency. Now, they have to change their profession and start their life from the very beginning. It is too hard because they are not young people. Another one of the biggest problems is expensive health care. I have medical insurance, but my parents do not. Compared to all of the European countries, US health care is not affordable for most people. If something happens to my parents, they have to go back to our native country. In the future, I hope more money will be given to provide medical care for low income families. Moreover, for us as immigrants, we want to be aware of American market requirements. We want to know how to represent ourselves and how to search for a job related to our experience and education. It is very important to have more opportunities to learn more about the rules and the requirements of the American market and the most effective skills I need to succeed. As John Kennedy said long time ago, “Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life”.

Sincerely,

Matey

Dear President Obama:

Hi, my name is Josephine. I am a 10th grader in Hillsdale High School in California, and I’m 15 years. I was emigrated from China about two years ago, and I really like it here. As the President, I hope that you can make here a better life for people who live in the US. Societies’ safety is really important for people, especially for immigrants, and non-white people. These people haven’t gotten enough protection, from racial discrimination. There are white police officers killing black people for no reasons. On Jan-1st, there was a person who got killed at a BART station. This is not only a terrible thing for black people; it also will influence the people around Oakland and the whole Bay Area. This makes our community not peaceful and harmonious. I hope that people can live together without violence. I think safety in a country is really needed for the people who have been discriminated against.

Sincerely,

Josephine