Macy, mom of Jared, shared his essay, which does not require any additional words from me – you know,  out of the mouths of babes… 🙂

My Hometown

By Jared Otake

“ The only place you can find a school, Skateboard Park, fencing club and a piano studio is in Campbell California. So far I have lived here all my life. Several places that make up my hometown are: the Campbell Community Center (the CCC), my fencing school Academy of Fencing Masters (the AFM) and Mrs. Gruber’s piano studio.

My not so favorite place is the CCC. Even if a skateboard park is there (which I don’t go to that often) it is still not my favorite. It’s not my favorite because my school is there. One campus of my school is on Latimer Ave and the other campus is in the CCC. So the older kids at the CCC, have to walk to the Latimer site every day. That is my least favorite part of my school. Once I walked four times back and forth.

A place I can actually enjoy is the piano studio. It’s my 5th year there. It doesn’t have a name since it’s in my piano teacher’s house. I call it Mrs. Gruber’s piano studio. She likes piano so much that she has been teaching for 40 years. It is amazing because she’s over 70 years old. I think she is a better piano teacher because she writes down notes for us to review. Her expectations are higher and she is very demanding. Because of her I went to Branch Honors in San Jose and qualified for State Convention in LA, both huge and important piano recitals.

Lastly, the AFM, down on Railroad Ave it is the newest fencing club in the Bay Area. Two months after the club opened, they had a Bay Cup competition. After the competition some of the fencers from different clubs liked the coaches so much that they joined the AFM. My coaches tought the Russian and Kazakhstan Olympic teams and some world class fencers. I like the way Coach Natasha teaches because she focuses on technique and not being aggressive. I think Coach Alexander is a fencing version of Mrs. Gruber. I like fencing because it’s sword fighting.

I will probably not leave Campbell, my hometoown. I might leave for college though. Again, three favorite things that make up my hometown are: The CCC, the AFM and Mrs. Gruber’s piano studio. The AFM is my favorite place (not including home), the piano studio a close second and the CCC dead last”.