Washington Voices

Thomas Plumley hasn’t had an easy life. When other high school seniors are just waking to the sound of an alarm or a parent’s voice, Plumley has already spent several hours unloading trucks at Lowe’s. Julie Cruz admires his industry. Cruz, a mental health therapist at MAP (Multi-Agency Adolescent Program), said, “He works all night, then he puts his bike on an STA bus and gets himself to school.”

When 18-year-old Nicole Esmay was younger, she thought she’d probably scale Mount Everest one day. The North Central senior loved to rock climb and spent hours improving her skills at an indoor climbing gym in Spokane. But at age 13, her body began holding her back. She started coming down with strep throat on a regular basis and experienced symptoms of fibromyalgia, marked by fatigue and widespread pain.

Michael Woodruff prays in the morning before he starts each day and prays each night before he hits the hay. “I wouldn’t be anywhere without my relationship with God,” Woodruff said, “At times it’s difficult to stay humble, but I think humility is all-important when it comes to excelling at things. When you achieve great things, you have to have humility to match it, or you will find yourself back to ground level. Pride doesn’t get you anywhere. It’s a daily challenge to keep God at the center of what I’m doing, but so vital to success.”

East Valley High School senior Al Malmo will graduate a month and a half after his retirement. At 62, Malmo will definitely be the oldest participant in the school’s senior breakfast and commencement on June 15.

Valley Christian senior Sydney Eggleston, 17, discovered her life’s dream at an early age. While channel surfing at 9, she happened upon the equestrian riding event during the Sydney Olympics. ”Nothing was ever right until I saw it on TV,” Sydney said. “I knew at that moment that is what I totally want to do.”

Fueled by friendship, Laurel Fish is a global community servant. Before heading off to college, St. George’s School senior Laurel Fish is heading back to El Salvador to work eight to nine months for a social justice organization. The South Hill resident has gone several times already, forging friendships with the people in the small town of Huisisilapa while deepening her desire to help them as much as she can.

Kingston Simon is a seventh son. In some cultures, that status is linked to good fortune and a future filled with special gifts. While the West Valley senior has more than his share of special gifts – gifts that make him a standout athlete who plays three sports – planning a future is a major challenge when the present is regularly in flux.

Jordan Lee likes to think big. Foreign correspondent. Diplomat. Political commentator.

When Mt. Spokane senior Larry Chow walked into his senior presentation this spring dressed to impress in a suit, he was a different sight than the 13-year-old rebellious youth forced to enter SunHawk Academy, a rehabilitation facility in Utah, in 2004. And he didn’t look like the freshman entering Mt. Spokane High School four years ago, dressed, he said, like a gangster. He’s come a long way since then. Growing up in Oakland, Calif., Chow’s childhood neighborhood was rough, said his aunt Julie Quon from her home in California. “Larry got in with the neighborhood kids. It wasn’t a good neighborhood. He got into the gangs and we sent him off to Utah.”

As a University High School senior and Eastern Washington University Running Start student, Cindy Wu has already lived on her own. Really alone. Her mother moved out of town two years ago and her father died last summer after being in Taiwan for a year for treatment of gastric cancer. He traveled there because both parents are originally from Taiwan. For a while Wu lived in the family home alone, getting up every day and going to school on her own. “I was responsible,” she said, while admitting her living arrangements weren’t the best.

Class of 2009 Alexandria A. Besaw

Twenty-one-year-old James Nettleingham could have had a high school equivalency certificate a long time ago, but he didn’t want it. “A diploma’s a lot better, I think,” Nettleingham said. “It shows you could stick it out, and I think it shows the kind of person you are.”