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Editor's note: Danielle Galloway, a ninth-grader at Central Junior High, won the grand prize in the Central site council's Martin Luther King Jr. essay contest for "What People Consider Normal, Never Is." Danielle Galloway is the daughter of Coelet and Kwamena Obu of Lawrence and Estee Galloway of Kansas City, Kan.

Not one of my friends is the same as another. If you look at my "clique," the first thing to pop in your mind would probably be "trouble makers" or "soon to be dropouts."

The truth is: Yes, some have been affected - affected by society, their statistics and standards. People see the trouble: the drugs, grade-point averages, sexuality, domestic violence and pregnancy.

What nobody seems to look at is the genius whose ideas are shot down, the artist who doesn't get credited for his work, the singer whose talent has yet to be discovered, the shy girl who's trying to find herself, and the girl who has the most talent anyone has ever seen where it sickens you to know how little her parents care.

What nobody seems to see is the hope in our eyes, for better. My dream is that one day people will look outside the box and farther than what their eyes allow them to see.

Living in Lawrence, Kansas, I have grown up around different cultures: Hispanic, Caucasian, Asian, African and Italian.

I was raised by African-American parents who experienced racism firsthand. My father protested here in Lawrence when he was a teenager. My mother grew up in Chicago's Cabrini Green housing project.

As smart as she is, people treated her with disrespect and as if she was stupid because of where she came from.

At an early age, I learned I have to look into someone to see who they are. If not, how would I ever get to know anybody?

Looking at someone's color, sexuality or religion is only viewing a minor part of them.

Why do we humans fight and kill one another over these issues, when at the end of the day if you cut all of us, we'd all bleed the same color blood? Why do we allow ourselves to be so ignorant?

It's as if we make up new reasons to fight one another, because we're bored. Martin Luther King Jr. served his life in teaching us about how color isn't important.

He died wanting us all to get along. It's not always color anymore that we fight about. We fight each other over sexuality and colors, too.

All humans laugh, hate, hurt, cry and love. Everyone is affected when we judge each other. The world can be better. I believe that. We integrated the schools. Because of this, I met friends who became family.

If I didn't hang around Kirstie because she was a skimpy little Mexican, my life would be different right now.

If I didn't talk to Isis in seventh grade because she was the quiet girl with the poof ball, I would have never become serious about my singing talent.

Caitlyn is weird and goofy all of the time; I laughed, and made a new friend.

Brianne is the most country person I've met, but she makes me smile every time I'm with her. Noah is Noah, and that's all that matters.

The way we are living right now isn't perfect, but it is better because of integration. I believe we have the power to create a better, safer and easier life, if we would only try.

Hopefully one day we'll see what is truly important. My dream is that one day people will look outside the box and farther than what their eyes allow them to see.

As Antoine de Saint-Exupery wrote in "The Little Prince": "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."