"Meet Robyn Strumpf"
May 19-23, 2003
by Jennifer James
(Copyright (c) 2003 Los Angeles Times)

PART 1

The sky is a cloudless blue. The guard waves you through to the wide sun-drenched streets of a gated community in Northridge. The first thing you notice is how quiet it is and how beautiful the homes are that line the streets.

For a moment you imagine that you have arrived in some kind of magical kingdom -- where the weather is always beautiful, the wide streets are always clean and the neighbors are always well-behaved.

The magic continues as you enter the Strumpf home and are greeted by an explosion of colors: bright reds, oranges, blues and yellows. These are the colors of the quilts that adorn the fireplace, the billiard table, the chairs and the walls.

Oh, and the books, don't forget the books; they are everywhere too.

But this isn't magic, this is better. This is real. This is the home of "Project Books and Blankies," a 16-year-old's community service project. Her name is Robyn Strumpf.

Susan Strumpf, Robyn's mom, surveys the living room filled with books and quilts. "It saves us from having to buy a sofa!" she jokes.

Since age 12, Robyn has been donating books and quilts to organizations that help the needy. She says she came up with the idea because "when I was younger I had a lot of difficulty learning to read. I was behind my classmates. I was embarrassed. I would run screaming from books. My parents would sit and read with me and I would cuddle up with a cozy quilt. All of a sudden it just clicked and now I love to read."

According to Robyn it didn't start "clicking" for her until she was in third grade. But after that, there was no looking back.

"When 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' came out, I locked myself in a closet and didn't come out for two days," she adds.

Robyn says she got the idea because "I wanted to share my love of reading with other kids. Kids who weren't motivated, who were having trouble learning to read or didn't have the resources. So I started a community service program that donated books. With each basket of books I donated, I made a cozy quilt to go with it."

Ten thousand books and 100 quilts have been donated during the past four years!

PART 2

Robyn is not only a quilter and a reader, she's on the varsity softball and basketball teams as well.

"My coach knew of my project and wanted to get the [softball] team involved," she explains. "And I wanted them involved too. I wanted to give them an opportunity to see what a difference you can make in a kid's life, so I brought them to a family shelter in North Hollywood. We wore our jerseys and our jackets, and the kids loved it. We had all kinds of activities. We played softball and baseball games, we read stories, we had a coloring activity where the kids could create their own jerseys. It was a lot of fun and everyone had a great time."

Robyn moves with the nervous energy and the grace of an athlete and talks at record speeds. She gets straight A's and has a wall full of academic honors. She straddles two worlds -- that of a girl verging on adulthood and that of a child with a child's enthusiasms. Her favorite movies are "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" and "Monsters, Inc." And she still watches the Disney Channel.

She is a quick thinker and you can almost hear the wheels spinning in her head as she thoughtfully and thoroughly answers questions. She answers quickly and to the point.

But there was one question that she thought long and hard about. Are there any celebrities she admires?

The silence stretched out until she finally answered with a quiet, "No, not really any celebrities."

And then she laughs.

PART 3

ROBYN says her favorite books are the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen and "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie.

Numerous awards fill the wall of her room: first place in a fifth- grade essay contest sponsored by Mothers Against Drunk Drivers and numerous science awards, among others.

Robyn won first place in the California Nobel Centennial essay contest. As a result, she participated in a round-table symposium along with many Nobel laureates. She also met Victoria, the crown princess of Sweden.

Her favorite subjects are science, history and math. But her very favorite is science, "because you can come up with questions and find your own answers for them and solve problems. I love problem solving," she noted.

As for the future, she wants to become a scientist, perhaps go into engineering or biology or maybe be a teacher. She is not interested in studying English or literature. "I like to read books for pleasure," she says. "I don't want to have to be looking into them for too much symbolism.

"I would love to invent something," she says. "That just sounds so amazing -- to make something that no one else has done before."

Robyn's accomplishments are inspiring. But who inspires Robyn?

"My parents, of course," she quickly says. And then she surprises: " ... and Rocky Marciano!"

Thursday: Who is Rocky Marciano and why does he inspire Robyn?

PART 4

Rocky Marciano was a famous boxer who was born in 1923 and reigned as heavyweight boxing's world champion from 1952 to 1956. Why has he inspired 16-year-old Robyn Strumpf?

"He was the underdog," she explains. "No one expected him to win because he was shorter than everyone else. He could triumph over that and not listen to what other people said and just follow his dreams with his determination. And he never gave up. He just worked and worked. He just gave it his all. Not 50%. He had to give 100%."

It is not surprising that Robyn took an award-winning photograph showing a fighter. The haunting image is in black and white, taken from the point of view of the fighter's opponent. The fighter's face is haggard and beaten, but a light shines there too. It tells the viewer that this person is not a quitter, that no matter what, he will fight until he wins. Her photo won the Gold Key Award in the National Scholastic Arts and Writing competition. Charlie Sitzer, Robyn's photography teacher, says, "It was on exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., for three months and is now traveling around the country for three years."

Perhaps this young woman has more in common with a fighter than you would think. After all, who would expect someone who once had trouble learning to read to become a straight-A student with lots of academic honors?

When asked what Robyn would like to tell other kids, she says, "If you have a dream, don't give up on it. You can do anything you put your mind to. You just have to figure out what it is. Then set your goals. There is always a way to accomplish what you want. You just have to figure out what it is."

She should know. She is living proof of her own advice.

PART 5

"YOU have to learn to read. That is the key. And become well- educated. You have 10 people and only two are smart. Isn't it better to have 10 people with eight people who are smart? Follow your dreams. You can do it. Don't give up. Don't think it's impossible, because it isn't."

Robyn Strumpf comes from a loving and supportive family. Her mom, Susan Strumpf, is a teacher at Viewpoint, the private school Robyn attends. When Robyn was asked which teacher inspired her the most, she promptly answered, "My mom, actually. She teaches a class in American history, and it is because of this class I can't wait to learn more about American history next year."

When she was younger, Robyn accompanied her mother on a trip to a store that sold Civil War figurines. Mrs. Strumpf needed them for the class she was teaching. While they were there, Robyn became fascinated with the GI Joe action figures.

She now has quite a collection. She lovingly touches the special action figures that represent heroes from the military, such as George Washington and John F. Kennedy. Oh, and the Tuskegee Airman action figure who inspired her to do a report for school.

"I learn a lot from reading the back of the boxes the action figures come in. And then I look up more information in the encyclopedia," she says.

The reason Robyn loves community service so much is that she used to tag along with her older brothers, David and Brian, when they were working with the service organization Friends of the Family.

Jeff Strumpf, Robyn's dad, is a doctor, and it is his values and ethics that have motivated Robyn to work the way she does.

Does Robyn have any parting thoughts? "Pretty much live your life how you want it to be looked back at in history. You want to be proud of it."