Valley Stream North High School sophomore Olivia Howard, 15, was selected as a runner-up in Optimum’s 18th annual Hispanic Heritage Essay Contest.
The contest, held across the company’s 21-state footprint, invites students to submit essays of 500 words or fewer describing a person, cultural experience, celebration or tradition that helped them connect to Hispanic culture and explain the significance of that connection.
“The contest champions diversity and the positive contributions that Hispanics and Hispanic culture have brought to the communities where our customers and employees live and work,” Jay Guy, vice president, general manager of Optimum New York, said. “We thank all the Long Island students who submitted thoughtful and heartfelt entries, including Olivia, who shared a beautiful piece on how salsa music allowed her to connect to Hispanic heritage.”
Howard’s essay, titled “Chosen by the Music,” focused on her early encounters with salsa while growing up in Brooklyn. Her family, originally from Jamaica and Trinidad, lived in a diverse neighborhood where she regularly heard a variety of music. She explained that salsa stood out to her because it differed from the reggae and soca that were more familiar within her own cultural background. The music caught her interest, and through repeated exposure, she developed a strong appreciation for it.
“I saw this essay contest, and I understood that it was about celebrating Hispanic culture, and I’m not Hispanic,” Howard said, “but I absolutely love Hispanic music, or Spanish music, and so immediately, right off the bat, I knew it was going to be about music, because that music is the music is what inspired me to even learn Spanish and music, the music that’s in Hispanic culture, is what made me appreciate Hispanic culture more. And so, I started looking through my playlist, and I started seeing which songs I loved the most in my Spanish playlist.”
She recalled songs by Eddie Santiago and Celia Cruz and revisited lyrics that had meaning for her. As part of her writing process, she also reflected on her early memories in Brooklyn and how discovering salsa had influenced her personal and academic interests.
Howard said she approached the essay to honor Hispanic culture. Because she is not Hispanic, she wanted to ensure that the cultural references she included were accurate. She sought clarification when needed from a family friend from Puerto Rico and verified meanings on her own. Her goal was to present the culture respectfully while expressing the connection she felt to the music.
“I didn’t enter the contest with intentions of trying to win,” Howard said. “I honestly just wanted to honor the culture.”
She was surprised to Learn she had been named a runner-up, making her proud of the work she submitted. She hopes to become a lawyer and is interested in using Spanish in that career, including the possibility of international law. She aims to attend a top school, minor in another language and work toward becoming a polyglot. Howard hopes to study abroad to experience new cultures and perspectives.
In addition to her academic performance, Howard serves as vice president of both the Culture Society and the Black Student Union. She is president of her grade and is president of the National Junior Honor Society. Outside of school, she studies Spanish independently and previously studied Mandarin between September and November through a program after receiving a scholarship.
School counselor Danielle Liebman, a leave replacement who began working at North High School in September, has known Howard since the start of the school year. Liebman described Howard as academically strong, enrolled in some of the most rigorous courses offered and highly active in school activities. After reading the essay, Liebman viewed it as beautifully written and believed it clearly conveyed the role salsa has played in shaping Howard’s interests.
“It was just so beautiful and so smooth and really captured the full picture of what salsa means to her and how it kind of came into her life and started shaping her life,” Liebman said. “For a 15-year-old to be so inspired by different cultures and by salsa, a language that she really isn’t familiar with, is really, really cool and something that we really don’t see often.”
Liebman said she was not surprised by Howard’s recognition, citing her strong work ethic, willingness to ask questions and ability to advocate for herself. She viewed Howard’s decision to write about a culture she is not part of as significant because students often focus on more familiar topics. Liebman considered Howard’s approach an example of openness to learning and an interest in broadening her perspective.
Both Howard and Liebman expressed a positive view of the contest and the opportunities it provides. Howard said she hopes other students will consider participating in similar programs, noting that learning about cultures beyond one’s own can broaden understanding and create new opportunities for personal and academic growth.
