Editor's note: The Orange County Human Relations Commission sponsored an essay contest in February to celebrate Human Relations Month. The Chapel Hill News ran excerpts from the high school winners Sunday; today, the middle school winners.

To build a bridge

By Tristin Van Ord
First place, McDougle Middle

The sparkling creek flows underneath me as I cross to the other neighborhood. The bridge takes me from one neighborhood to another. A whole new community waits for me to discover it. But there are other bridges. We, as the citizens of the Earth, can build bridges to other cultures and other parts of the world.

When I was not even born yet, my father helped to build a bridge. He died when I was four, but now when I try to remember him, one thing always pops into my mind: he was in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone, Africa. He helped the children in Africa by teaching them science in a small classroom, with no computers, calculators, or even books. He connected with the children, taught them, and played games with them. My father built a bridge.

"North America, South America, Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia and Antarctica are the seven continents." Every year I have heard this from my social studies teachers. Now, I realize that every time a teacher says this to a child, they are helping to build a bridge. One of the main ways to build a bridge is by learning about these cultures and accepting them. When we see an Indian dance without being open-minded, we might laugh, or joke about the dances, but when we learn about this dance and study its background, we grow to understand it and connect to it.

Today I am starting to build a bridge, but this time, not a bridge made of wood going across a creek to another neighborhood. I am going to build it of knowledge, understanding and hope. I am going to get further on my journey across this bridge by helping nations, by maybe joining the Peace Corps when I get older, and learning more about other countries in my studies at school. l am building this bridge to understand mankind, make peace, help others and connect the whole world. This is a wonderful dream and with help from others, I think it's possible.

Building bridges

By Jenny Jin
Second place, McDougle Middle

Ever wonder what "building bridges with other cultures" meant? I know I did. Every time I heard it, I always wondered what it meant. But, over the years, I've figured it out seeing that I had to build a bridge myself. Building bridges with other cultures basically means that if you learn about a different culture well enough, then you can relate to it. You don't have to like that country's culture. What is important is that you understand it.

I had to build a bridge when I moved to the United States. I did not know any English, and school was hard for me. But, as months went by, and my English got better, I was able to learn the culture in America. At first I was puzzled because the culture was different than in Korea. But, as the years passed, I've learned to love it. Now that I think about it, having the bridge has helped me a lot. I can tell some of my friends about the typical life of a seventh-grader in Korea and compare it with a seventh grader in the United States. A seventh grader in Korea wakes up at around 7 a.m., and goes to school. After school, they go to private tutoring until about midnight, do their homework and go to bed. Here all you do is get up and go to school, have some extracurricular activity, do homework, and then go to bed.

So, building a bridge with other cultures can help with anything related to cultural problems. The bridge can help prevent wars, or it can even help a person who has just moved to a different country. Either way it will make people living on Earth feel better. I think that before it's too late, we as a world should bring peace to the world by building a huge cultural bridge with each other.

Human relations and marbles

By Breanna Pellett
Third place, Smith Middle

When I look at our world today, I see a marble. A tiny, little, blue-green marble that is full of anything and everything imaginable. We have reached feats we never dreamed of: a stroll on the moon, exploration of oceans more than a mile deep. There was a time when these feats seemed impossible, but it took only time, dedication, and effort to make it all happen.

As always, along with the good comes the bad. As recent as 50 years into our past we had segregation based on the color of your skin. To think back on it now, it seems ignorant. Yet we fixed it. No, the whole world did not sit up in their beds one night and say, "What we're doing is wrong." It took people who cared, people who were willing to build a bridge between themselves and others who were perceived as different.

Think ahead with me. Think not of a United States, but a United World. Think how far connecting ourselves to other people would take us. How do we build these bridges? I do not know the sure fire way. However, there are plenty of ways to begin. After all, you cannot stick two people in a room and say get along. The world does not work that way. The people of America, of the world, will have to cooperate. We must be willing to accept differences, as well as similarities and most importantly, we must to be ready and willing to change.

Building bridges

Alex Cecil
Third place, McDougle Middle

No matter how you look at it, no one's the same. Body language, personal space, style, dialect, skin color and family size are just a few of the ways that we differ. There is also no way we can ever stop ethnic and cultural groups from accidentally breaking boundaries of other groups. While we can never truly do the same as another culture other than our own, we can attempt to build bridges, or connect, with other groups.

Connecting with others is actually quite easy, and there are many ways to accomplish it. You may participate in language classes, like French or German, and while learning to speak that language, you may be taught some of the culture or history of the language's country. Classes like social studies or history are also another opportunity, as we learn all about different parts of the world and the people who live there.

You should always try to branch out from your little circle of best friends forever. Maybe that new kid is new to the country, or follows a different religion than you. Whatever the difference, try to get them involved in fun activities, like drama, sports, or just hanging out. Invite them over to your house, to the pool, wherever. You will not only help the new student, but yourself as well.

Building bridges is important because people need people. Different cultures have different ways to do so, but your life will require you to talk to others. If you don't know how to behave in a foreign country, you may do something that is extremely offensive to a different culture. One of the best ways to ensure that something like that doesn't happen is to pay attention in your world studies class, participate in multi-cultural events and make new friends. I think you'll find that while we remain different in so many ways, if you look deep inside, we're all the same.