Leighton Kohlmann, age 15, Kristen Tomeny, age 15, Liz Sowa, age 15,
Hannah Kitziger,age 15, New Orleans, LA, February 7, 2004
Robin Bowman

Leighton Kohlmann, age 15 I go to Academy of the Sacred Heart. My grade is really catty and everyone is always in a fight, There’s one group of girls that think they’re so superior and better than everyone else… Everyone is just really mean to each other and it’s just clique-y. The first time I drank was the summer going into the ninth grade, so I was like fourteen… I didn’t feel pressured, it was my choice. It’s my choice if I want to do it now. There is too much drinking in New Orleans, just ‘cause it’s so easily there. Everyone does it. I mean, I don’t do it just because everyone does it. It’s just, kind of, you do it. Kristen Tomeny, age 15 A lot of kids in my school are really, really wealthy and just have so much money. Their parents don’t even need to work. My family–we’re not like that. We don’t come from family money, trust funds… you know, debutantes and all that… My parents wanted me to go to a good school so they worked really hard to put me in Sacred Heart… My dad works really hard, too, you know, so that I can keep up with everyone. I know it’s really hard. My dad is never home and I feel bad. I feel really bad that he feels like he has to do all that to keep up with everyone. I just respect my dad a lot. My fantasy is that I marry this guy who’s a senior (laughs) and who doesn’t know who I am–he’s kind of like my sister’s friend. And so I marry him and we live in New Orleans and we live in a huge house. And I have really cute, nice clothes. We have really nice cars and we have the cutest kids ever, and they have the cutest clothes too, and they are so cute. He has a really good job. I do something really big in fashion and I’m really famous (laughs). Liz Sowa, age 15 I moved from Fort Worth, Texas to New Orleans when I was younger. In Fort Worth I was more religious. All my friends were really religious and then when I came to New Orleans, everyone wasn’t really like that. I do believe in God… You just have to have faith, in order for Him to actually work in your life. All of society, especially in New Orleans, is influenced in a way that would make teenagers–13 and 14 year-olds–feel like they have to drink in order to fit in. Saying no is a really hard thing. I’ve never had sex. I signed a contract at my camp. I know it kinda sounds weird. Hannah Kitziger,age 15 What I like the most about myself is I think I am good. I shop well, I get good clothes; I dress well. What bothers me is my physical self. I hate my nose, I hate my thighs, my fingers, I can’t deal with my fingers–they’re so fat. I kind of have two dreams but one of them is, like, the reality one. Okay… There is this really, really pretty house that I love on St. Charles Avenue. Me and my husband are going to live there and right on the back, behind it, is another house and Kristen my other friend, she’s going to live there. We’re both always going to wear really cool stuff and we’re going to have the cutest kids and really good husbands. We are going to live on St. Charles and we’re going to go shopping all the time. Our husbands will have really good jobs too, so we don’t really have to work that much, you know… That’s the more reality one (laughs)!