A Brooklyn Technical High School graduate is the “best of the borough.”
Corey Trippiedi, who graduated from the prestigious Fort Greene school in June, won a “Best of Borough” award in Random House’s 2008 Creative Writing Competition for New York City public high school seniors.
By topping other Brooklyn students, Trippiedi earned a $1,000 college scholarship, which he’s now using as a freshman in Baruch College’s honors program.
“I was trilled. I immediately called my friend and he had won too,” Trippiedi, 18, said from his home in Midwood.
Trippiedi was honored for his short story, “Diary of a Fallen Soldier,” which follows a young soldier recounting his short life as he lay dying on a battlefield in 2009.
“The situation in North Korea was in the news a lot and I just took what I knew from current day news and I created my world of science fiction,” Trippiedi said.
In the six-page story, the soldier, whose name is never revealed, is an American fighting in war torn North Korea.
The fictitious story was inspired by the current war in Iraq and how 18-year-olds are recruited to the armed forces.
“I really dislike the Army and the way they solicit teenagers,” Trippiedi said.
The young writer said he’s seen his friends go off to war and the devastating effects it can have.
“My friend has two cousins that joined the military. My friend’s cousin who had gone, he came back a changed man. He didn’t laugh at the same things anymore. He lost his sense of humor,” Trippiedi said.
A passage in “Diary of a Fallen Soldier” sums up Trippiedi’s take on war. It reads, “A new fleet of soldiers was deployed over here today, a truly naïve bunch. I looked at their sanguine faces and felt a profound sense of pity. None of them knew what they were in for. Joining the Army was no walk in the park. There are no parks here. There’s nothing here.”
Although Trippiedi loves writing, it will remain a hobby.
“I like writing when it’s not for school because I can write about anything I want,” he said. “There’s a lot of room for creativity.”
For a career, Trippiedi says he’ll “probably do something with business – stocks or trading.”
Trippiedi credits the teachers at Brooklyn Tech, located at 29 Fort Greene Place, with helping to enhance his writing skills.
“My junior year English teacher was one of the best teachers I’ve had and I thank him. The English department is very good. I know I had a great experience,” he said.
