Contest offers prize to student writers

Students now have the opportunity to win up to $3,000 in scholarship money through a new essay contest called #write4good.

Writers are prompted to write an essay on a global issue they feel passionate about.

The contest is sponsored by Prose and Unite4:Good, two organizations which have partnered together to launch a brand new campaign called #write4good.

Prose was created to promote high-quality writing and reading around the world, and to give writers a place to post their writings without any censorship. Unite4:good is an organization that believes organizations, inventors, students, visionaries and dreamers should unite on a global scale to create and share ideas that matter.

Prose co-founder H.B. Augustine wrote in an email interview, “We wanted to create global awareness of current worldwide issues, whilst offering a unique opportunity to writers who want to further themselves with the written word, and have an impact on their education.”

Any student may enter the contest by signing up for Prose and joining Unite4:Good’s website. Then, students must post an essay of 500 words or more onto Prose and tag it with #write4good and #Iam4.

Judges are looking for an essay that “Develops a genuine, insightful, articulate point of view while also demonstrating creative thinking and effective reasoning,” according to Augustine. He also explained that the essay needs to have skillful use of vocabulary and vary in the syntax, or structure, used.

Dan Compora, an associate professor of English, had some advice for those applying for a nationwide scholarship.

“You’re not just competing with the local group of students,” said Compora “They need to realize that it’s a much larger pool of people, so you need to be even better to stand out.”

While looking and applying for scholarships, Compora said students should utilize the resources around them, namely the Writing Center at the Carlson Library and faculty advisors to get advice on making essays stand out.

The contest ends on Sept. 30, at which point six judges will review the entries. The winners will be announced Oct. 15. The first-place winner will be awarded $3,000, and second and third place will be awarded $2,000 and $1,000 respectively. The only stipulations to winning are that the money has to be used for education, and the writer has to be in the United States.

The full text of the prompt can be found at www.theprose.com/p/write4good.

Correction: a previous version of this article linked to the Unite4:Good Foundation’s website. The correct address for their platform is u4g.com.