Lotería Chicana turned 9 years old a few days ago. November 7th, to be exact. I don’t keep track of these things like I should.

If my blog was a kid, she’d be in 4th grade.

LC is having a tough time in school. She’s scolded for her poor academic record and many missed assignments. When she does do her work, she lacks the enthusiasm and creativity she showed in earlier grades.

Her concerned teacher asks, “What’s wrong, LC? When you show up to class, you seem distracted.”

LC nods and admits that she is distracted and does miss class often due to her monthly trips to New York. She looks forward to PE much more than language arts, math or social studies. She’s less interested in photography too.

Her teacher doesn’t even noticed that she spends most of class cutting out pictures from magazines, listening to podcasts, passing short notes, and making mixtapes for her crush.

And finally, school isn’t like it used to be a few years ago. Her best friends moved and now go to different schools. Some of them stopped going to school all together.

Maybe middle school will be better for LC.