I have met many black people. I have liked some and disliked others. Until I met Loretta I never thought I would be close to someone of another race. Four years ago, during my first year at Roosevelt High School, I met a woman named Loretta Watson. When I met Loretta, I was very frightened about starting high school and being with older students. Loretta was there to comfort me in my first steps on the way to becoming a young lady. I will never forget the way she was there for me.

Loretta is not a star on television or in magazines, but a person who is real and there when I need a hug the most. I can tell her anything and she will tell me the best thing to do. She knows things about me and my life that even my own mother doesn't know. I feel that there is a closeness we share like mother and daughter. Her warm smile comforts me when I am down and unsure about where I'm going or who I am.

Loretta, with her love for me, is someone who I will never forget. One day I will be very glad to sit my children down and tell them about Loretta and the other special people who helped me through high school and prepared me for the real world. Black or white makes no difference; this is why Loretta is my hero, and why she means so much to me. n