A senior at Lutheran High School of Orange County, Christina Aushana is the Los Angeles Regional 2006 Gold Medallion Hispanic Heritage Youth Award Recipient in Journalism, sponsored by NBC/Telemundo.  Christina is a first generation American, whose mother was born in Colombia and father emigrated from Iraq.  She will be the first in her family to attend college.  With a 4.5 GPA, Christina is graduating in the top 4% of her class, and is a National Honor Society member, as well as a Surfrider Foundation member – an environmental group.  Christina belongs to both the National Scholastic Press Association and Quill and Scroll Society.  Through those organizations she’s competed in writing and editorial cartooning competitions for the past three years.  Four of her editorial cartoons gained national recognition.  Christina also won a writing competition at the 2005 Chicago journalism convention. At one time or another, she’s been the Co-editor-in-chief, Managing Editor, and Art Director for The Cornerstone, the school newspaper at Lutheran High.  Christina says one of the results of her Hispanic heritage has been the drive to prove something as a minority and that has also given her a sense of determination.  In September, Christina will start her freshman year at the University of California at San Diego.  She’d like to study print journalism before going on to a career as a cartoonist, editor of a newspaper, or art director at a news magazine.