Kearns » Nyalok Dhol was the only "different one" in class during her first few years of school in Utah.

She hid in a bathroom, crying, after students taunted her, calling her "dark night" and "chocolate" or laughing about not being able to see her when the lights were turned off.

One day, Nyalok begged her mom, Elizabeth Gatwech, to take her to a doctor for a shot to make her lighter. But Nyalok remembers her mom telling her to be proud of her African roots. "You are beautiful," Gatwech said. "God created you that color."

Feeling more comfortable when she was alone, Nyalok began writing poems and short stories. Her essay about growing up as a Sudanese refugee in Salt Lake City and learning to be proud of being black is one of five winners in a new contest by the Utah National Association for Multicultural Education.

"I want to make a difference in the world even by starting small, by loving and embracing my color," she wrote. "Eyes dark as night, heart strong as a lions roar, I will work till the end like my life is a chore I will shine every day though, because my life, my color, is the rainbow."

The contest, planned as an annual event, is a chance for educators to hear the stories of students of color and to support their higher-education aspirations, said Ramona Maile Kutri , NAME president and Brigham Young University assistant professor of education.

Nyalok, an East High School sophomore, learned about the contest from her creative writing teacher of two years, Elaine Turner. Nyalok's writing is unique because she has a diverse background to draw from, Turner said. She's determined to be successful by working hard and is open to being critiqued to improve her writing skills, Turner said.

"She's tough. ... She's a warrior," Turner said.

Nyalok was born in Sudan in 1994. She never knew her birth father. Still, she was named after him. "Nyalok" means "hate," and she was named that because people didn't like her dad, who was a soldier in Sudan, she said.

A year later she moved to Ethiopia, where she lived in refugee camps with her stepfather, mother and younger sister for three years. She moved with her family to Salt Lake City in 1998.

Nyalok has attended five schools because her family continues to move when they run into financial troubles and other problems. To stay at East High, she boards a public bus by 5:50 a.m. in Kearns.

Nyalok, 16, said the long rides are worth it because she loves East High and didn't want to change schools again.

Gatwech is now a single mom, unemployed and raising six kids in public housing in Kearns. The family lives on $600 a month in child support and $1,000 in food stamps.

Gatwech, who has a fourth-grade education, said life in Utah has been tough, but she couldn't have done it without her sole support system here: her daughter. Nyalok never complains about not having the new, cool clothes or shoes that other kids own. She cleans the house, makes dinner and takes care of her younger siblings.

When Gatwech feels like giving up, Nyalok assures her "everything will be alright" and reminds her of their blessings in the United States -- a home, food and a chance to go to school.

"She does everything to make me happy," Gatwech said. "I feel bad. I wish I could give her what she deserves."

Nyalok said she enjoys writing and rapping because it helps her "get things out" and let others know they are not alone in their struggles.

"It gives me relief," she said of writing. "I like people to hear it and know it's real, I'm not pretending."

Nyalok said she doesn't feel sorry for herself because many of her relatives, such as her grandma, are hungry and suffering more in Africa.

"There are people out there that are doing worse than me," she said. "I still have my family."

Tribune reporter Natalie Dicou contributed to this report.