8th-grader wins Law Day contest

Submitted by Deborah O’Neil
Principal, St. Bernadette Elementary School

Ananya Vel, an eighth-grade student at St. Bernadette School in Northborough, is the winner of this year’s Worcester County Bar Association’s Law Day Essay Contest. The contest challenged students to consider the question: “What does ‘good trouble’ mean to you today?”
St. Bernadette’s hosted members of the bar association at an awards assembly April 26 in the school’s Charbonneau Center. Ananya’s parents, Mullai Jeyakumar and Jeyakumar Sathamoorthy, joined their daughter on stage along with a number of dignitaries, including Terry McLaughlin, current WCBA president; Geoff Spofford, president-elect; Congressman James McGovern; Attorney Kathryn Toomey and District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. The seventh- and eighth-grade classes and faculty also attended.
The essay contest question stems from a statement by the late John Lewis who served 17 terms in the United States House of Representatives, from 1986 until his death on July 17, 2020. According to the contest flier, “John Lewis is remembered as an activist in the civil rights movement. He helped organize non-violent protests attempting to bring about desegregation. He joined with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as one of the civil rights leaders at the March on Washington in 1963. On March 7, 1965, John Lewis led approximately 600 marchers across the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama. When the Alabama State Troopers ordered the marchers to disburse, they knelt to pray and were attacked and beaten. John Lewis’s skull was fractured. The march became known as ‘Bloody Sunday.’ On March 1, 2020, John Lewis stood at the Edmund Pettis Bridge at an event commemorating the tragic events of Bloody Sunday. John Lewis said, ‘Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and redeem the soul of America.”’
Ananya’s essay recalled the night when Rosa Parks, “a 42-year old African American woman took a seat on a bus and wouldn’t give up her seat for a white man … Some might say she started trouble... others may say that she both caused trouble and did something good.”
After defining “good trouble,” Ananya’s essay continued, “I believe good trouble is knowing when to bend the rules and when to break them. When trapped in a moral dilemma, it’s choosing the ethical choice over the lawful one. It’s defining your principles and sticking to them, no matter what.”
She then cited examples of “good trouble” that brought changes.
“In 1920 women got the right to vote thanks to the nineteenth amendment. If it weren’t for all the protests and rallies and brave people who stood up for what they believed in, that may not have happened.”
“People like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. were people who were willing to sacrifice a lot for what they believed in but their efforts paid off when segregation was outlawed in the United States.”
She noted that the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, which can be used for good, or abused for trouble. “It gives us the right to protest laws we feel are unjust, and the right to speak up for ourselves. Good trouble is making good use of this right and speaking out when the necessity arises. Good trouble is also not abusing this right and doing whatever you want. But oftentimes people get caught up in the moment and escalate into violent mobs. When peaceful protests turn into riots, the ‘Good’ part of ‘Good Trouble’ is lost.”
“Good trouble is knowing when to jump fences and duck under barriers. But it’s also knowing when not to,” Ananya wrote.
Several officials shared personal memories of John Lewis. They reflected on his place in our country’s history and his commitment to our Constitution.  Each also remarked that Ananya’s essay was a thoughtfully balanced reflection on our country’s past and current challenges to embody the principles of our Constitution.
In addition to an award plaque and a scholarship, Ananya received a hand-written note of congratulations from Kimberly S. Budd, chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, in which she remarked that “Although our country seems very divided right now in a lot of ways, I have confidence that young people like you will set things right.”
Mr. McGovern said he would read Ananya’s essay into the United States Congressional Record.