Every day, CCHS students pray the community prayer, which includes the line “Let my gifts change the world.” Now, students have the opportunity to do just that with a plethora of essay contests available for entry.

Over twenty essay contests are currently available for students to take part in. These contests are sponsored by various prominent organizations such as the San Diego Chinese Center, California Educational Scholarship Foundation, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. A long list of contests and sponsors can be found on Naviance as well as in the counseling office.

“It is my hope that teachers can start advising students on contests which they might find success in,” said English Department head Mr. Jeff McMurtry. “For students, I would suggest that they read over the list in Naviance and see if any contests strike their fancy as something they could do.”

There are various benefits to entering the available contests. “The chance of having your talents applied to an authentic task is reason enough to enter,” said Mr. McMurtry. However, monetary prizes, scholarships, publication, and opportunities to put your achievement on a college resume are also up for the taking.

“These contests offer the chance for students to write the ‘readable’ essay; they can be an author of interesting, even literary works, not just writers of gradable assignments,” said Mr. McMurtry.

Students interested in entering the writing contests are encouraged to visit their English teachers or the counseling office as soon as possible.

“Writing should not be confined to English classes, and most real essays in this world do not constantly refer to just literature or literary analysis,” Mr. McMurtry said. “Rather, they refer to our own concrete experiences in this world, to occurrences in history that have us understand the present, and to experiences others have had outside our own. Experiences that are exotic beyond our dreams.”