by Davy James, Staff Writer
Winning has become a tradition in the Ginez household in Dayton, from accomplishments on the athletic field to achievement in the classroom.
Already an accomplished cross-country runner at South Brunswick High School, sophomore Sophia Ginez won first place in an annual essay contest held by Princeton University commemorating the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Sophia’s brother, Christian, previously took first place in the essay contest in 2006 and she won first prize in the event’s poster contest when she was in fourth and fifth grade.
The contest celebrated its winners on Jan. 21, during Princeton’s annual King Day event.
The theme of this year’s program was immigration, as the essay called for students in grades seven through 12 to imagine Dr. King was still alive today and was delivering a speech on immigration at a local rally. Sophia found the topic both interesting and challenging, as she had to search several sources to try and re-create what a speech by Dr. King might sound like.
”As a Baptist minister, he would’ve relied heavily on the Christian scriptures for guidance,” said Sophia. “So I used a concordance to search the Bible for verses that talk about foreigners and about the treatment of the poor and oppressed. I read some of Dr. King’s speeches to search for clues and to give me a feel for how he expressed himself about certain topics. It was fun trying to imitate his style.”
Sophia said the topic of immigration is especially important and tried to tie in the current climate in this country with the views Dr. King expressed throughout his life.
”Immigration is a hot-button issue right now and will be whenever the economy is weaker,” she said. “King always based his views about society on moral principles, so I think it’s important to think about immigration policies from a moral standpoint, not only from an economic one.”
Sophia said she believes race is currently at the forefront of national issues, as Barack Obama attempts to become the country’s first black president.
”As we can see from what’s been happening in the presidential campaign so far, race relations is still an issue in our country,” she said. “If it weren’t, no one would be mentioning the skin color of any of the candidates.”
Sophia said she is leaning toward a liberal arts major when she goes off to college, but her college plans may be affected by her running career. She also said the event at Princeton has become a source of pride for her family, as they’ve attended it numerous times for her and her brother’s achievements.
”It’s almost a Ginez tradition now to go to Princeton on the third Monday in January,” Sophia said. “Naturally, I’m very happy to receive this honor from such a prestigious institution.”