essay from this year's scholarship winner

Miss Amanda Aguilar, with an unweighted grade point average of 3.8 and ranked 10^th in her graduating class at Victor Valley High School in Victorville, Calif., was this year’s recipient of the annual Jim Long Communications Scholarship. It was handed out May 26, 2011, at the main auditorium of High Desert (Baptist) Church as part of the overall scholarship awards/baccalaureate ceremony for the seniors. Amanda also received the California Scholarship Federation Award, the Scholar Athlete of the Year Award, the Hope International University Presidential Scholarship, the Golden State Seal Merit Diploma and the United States Marine Corps Outstanding Athlete Award.

Below is the essay Amanda wrote and submitted, which persuaded the nominating committee to name her the winner. Please note that her career emphasis is on graphic arts, one of the many areas in which Jim excelled. I know Jim is proud to know that your donations in his name now will help a particularly worthy young lady to further succeed.

Communication skills are exceedingly important to help one survive in the workplace. Good communication skills can help one speak, write, read and listen better and effectively. In general, these abilities are needed in order to efficiently do and finish a job. Skills like this have helped me in many ways, including leading my volleyball team as the captain for the last three years.

I have been able to meet a number of new people and engage myself in activities that I might not have been able to, had I not had the proper verbal skills. Communication skills are amongst the most important skills someone needs in order to further a career because of the need to communicate with the people around you. The better my communication skills are, the less I will have to worry about too many errors or misunderstandings.

I have recently been accepted to Hope International University and I will be attending there in the fall. While attending HIU, I plan to major in business management and although money isn’t something that I have grown up around, I have always had to work for everything that I have. Things are not going to change now that I am going to be on my own. It is up to me to further educate myself in order to have a bright future with enough to provide for myself. My communication skills have allowed me to get to where I am today and the only way I will be able to fully succeed in college is if I continue to work on them.

The right communication skills can help me to perform my job well enough, take initiative when needed and lead a team of colleagues. I am the type of person who does not leave a project unfinished. I know how to take charge and accomplish something with a deadline, and qualities like this are needed in what I plan to major in. I would like to own my own small business one day that involves graphic design.

Graphic design is something that I enjoy and I would like to open my own business involving that field. Graphic design is a creative process that combines art and technology to communicate ideas. I have taken a graphic arts class at Victor Valley High School for two years now and thanks to the help of my teacher, Mr. Garcia, I have become very interested in the art. He has taught me everything that I know about graphic design and I believe that the skills that I have learned from him can help me to better educate myself in this field later in life. As a teacher, his communications skills are very important because he needs to be able to explain himself well enough to teach his students the material. He has showed me that it is necessary to have proper verbal skills in order to succeed.

I was inspired at a young age by a great teacher and I am hoping to give back to others one day as well. I intend to take speech classes in college to improve my communication skills to develop the appropriate techniques for job seeking. I am hoping to succeed in all the things that I apply myself to later in my life.

Donations of any amount are tax-deductible, accepted all year round and are most appreciated; anyone wishing to contribute can contact me here at their convenience on this “blog,” by email or by phone … Judy

It would have been our 19th wedding anniversary

Today is the day, 19 years ago, that we stood under a gazebo by a duck pond and pledged to be together until death did us part. We had been together for more than three years before that.

In my better times -- including, interestingly, today -- I feel such deep gratitude that I got to spend 20 years with the greatest guy on Earth.

A couple of notes on scholarships.

The Jim Long Communications Scholarship went Thursday evening to a lovely young lady named Amanda Aguilar who is a standout in almost any way (and who won many other accolades). As soon as I can figure out how to post her lovely email/essay here, I will.

The other scholarship, the Jim Long Award, will be given out at 3 p.m. this Saturday at the library at Victor Valley College in Victorville, as part of the overall annual writing contest; if by chance anyone wants to attend the free ceremony and eat lovely snacks, just let me know.

happy 48th birthday in heaven

biography, memorial and marker

Last week was the "unveiling," a small, short sort of mini-funeral at the one-year mark after a loss. It's called an unveiling because it is the first time that folks "officially" see the grave marker. It was held actually exactly a year since the funeral itself. So, I thought this would be a good time to re-state some of the basics. This mini-biography was one of the first items read.

James Paul Long Jr., a lifelong resident of the Inland Empire of Southern California, was a professional writer by the age of 16 -- a part-time correspondent with the weekly Rialto Record. He later wrote for a variety of newspapers – mostly but not exclusively coverage of sports – especially the San Bernardino County Sun and the Victor Valley (Victorville) Daily Press.
About a decade ago he went to work for the Victor Valley Union High School District, starting as a classroom volunteer, later getting a part-time job with an adult education program within the VVUHSD and eventually spending nearly seven years as a full-time computer media specialist at Victor Valley (Victorville) High School, where he earned consistently superlative evaluations.
In his spare time, Jim was a talented graphic artist and webpage designer who created all his projects “by hand” using the computer coding language HTML. He was an enthusiastic and gifted nature photographer. Especially, he was an award-winning creative writer, taking home four awards in two years while a part-time student at Victor Valley (Victorville) College, where he earned a web-authoring certificate, maintained a 3.9 grade-point average and was a member of the national two-year-college honor society, Phi Beta Kappa. (He earlier had earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies at California State University San Bernardino.)
Jim was plagued with serious health problems since literally before he was born – his mother was accidentally exposed to German measles while carrying him. Tragically, his health dramatically declined in mid-September 2007, and despite intensive medical treatment and therapy, he “traveled beyond the stars” two years later at the age of 46 ½.
Two scholarships have been established in Jim’s name. Anyone wishing to know more about Jim -- including how to donate to either scholarship, to non-profit causes Jim supported during his lifetime or to a possible upcoming exhibition of his photography -- is invited to write to JimsWife17@yahoo.com

And here is the wording:

James Paul Long Jr.

Arrived to Earth on March 15, 1963

Traveled beyond the stars on Sept. 24, 2009

Beloved husband, son, grandson, brother, brother-in-law, uncle, nephew, grandnephew

Jim was, is and always will be an incorruptible soul

It was one year ago today ...

that we lost our wonderful James Jr., Jim, Jimmy, Jimbo, my darling baby duck.

No matter what we call him, I pray that we never forget him.

I appreciate all those who already remembered and contacted me by phone, post or email.

one award given, another one set for Saturday

Last month the first Jim Long Communications Scholarship was given, to an outstanding graduate of Victor Valley High School. This scholarship is to fund study of creative writing, journalism, photography, web design, graphic arts: all the things Jim excelled at and loved.

I am further thrilled to let you know that we have already received a generous donation toward next year's candidate. In any case, donations of any amount are gratefully accepted at any time, promptly acknowledged AND tax-deductible. Moreover, I finally have the details in front of me as I type this, so I'll let y'all know that if, say, you might happen to have a spare $20 or so at the end of the month, you might think about donating it to the cause.

If you are so inclined, just send a check made out to "VVHS Scholarship" and with the words "In honor of Jim Long" in the memorandum field. You would mail this check -- along with a short note stating the exact name and exact mailing address that you use in your tax records -- to ASB Bookkeepter, Victor Valley High School, 16500 Mojave Drive, CA 92395. For more information, call Cindi Stone, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays, at (760) 955-3300 extension 31118.

Another award in Jim's name (and not needing funding at this time) will be given out TOMORROW, 3 p.m. Saturday, June 5, 2010, in the library at Victor Valley College. This is part of the ceremony honoring the winners of the most recent writing contest at VVC, a contest that Jim won four times in the late 1990s. If anyone has the time to come by, I would be honored.

Doing what's possible to carry on his vital work

Two scholarships have recently been established to help carry on Jim's work in communications education.

The larger, the one for which the candidate has been chosen AND the one for which donations gratefully will be accepted is at Victor Valley High School in northwest Victorville, where Jim year after year earned superlative evaluations as a computer media specialist.

Donations ARE tax-deductible, and anyone who demonstrates this generosity -- in any amount and at any time -- will receive, by traditional mail, appropriate documentation to this effect.

(If you're interested, reply with a comment and I'll comment back with the details.)

Those who want to see the scholarship presented may attend the ceremony Friday, May 21, at the baccalaureate at High Desert Church in northwest Victorville. You don't need to pay, obtain a ticket or make a reservation. However, word-to-the-wise is to get there closer to 5 p.m. even though the event officially starts at 6 p.m.; this is a popular, well-attended event.

(Again, if you're interested, reply with a comment and I'll comment back with the details.)

The smaller scholarship -- actually a special award in the annual writing contest at the college in which Jim won four awards back in the late 90s -- will be presented at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 5, in the Learning Resource Center aka the library at Victor Valley College in southeast Victorville. Again, it's free and open to the public. No donations are sought for this at this time.