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South Miami girl wins essay contest

Laura Irastorza is only 10 years old, yet she's already writing award-winning essays and topping youngsters six years older.

The Epiphany Catholic School fifth grader recently entered and won the Macy's Department Store Follow A Leader essay contest, sponsored by The Miami Herald, copping one of seven $1,000 first prize awards and a $5,000 grand prize for her school.

Irastorza wrote her 300-word essay on television personality Cristina Saralegui, the widely popular host of the Spanish-language talk show that bears her name, and will get the chance to visit and meet with her idol on the Channel 23 television set in January.

"I picked Christina because I might want to be on television when I get older and she seemed very interesting to me," Irastorza said. "In my essay, I talked about how education was so important if you want to follow in a person's footsteps. I also told how Cristina kept trying because I heard that she came from Cuba and had to start her life all over again."

Irastorza says she will put most of her prize-money in the bank and save it for her college education. She says her school is debating what to do with the grand prize she won for the school, though she has an idea for its use.

"Maybe they should use it to buy computers for the kindergarten," she said. "That would be a good use for the money."