Today@Sam Article
Essay Contest Supports Student Service
Feb. 20, 2018
SHSU Media Contact: Emily Binetti
Story by Amanda Horn
For more than 137 years, Sam Houston State University has been preparing students for meaningful lives of achievement. Its motto, “The Measure of a Life is its Service,” echoes across campus and beyond through student research, creative endeavors, service learning, volunteering and more.
To honor this important motto, the Academic Success Center is hosting an essay contest for undergraduate and graduate students.
“The purpose of this contest is to showcase SHSU students’ commitment to civic engagement and the betterment of their communities,” Joyce K. McCauley, Executive Director of Center for Community Engagement said.
The ASC is looking for short, personal narratives demonstrating the theme “The Measure of a Life is its Service.” They want true stories of real SHSU students committed to extraordinary service and civic engagement. Essays may feature personal, first-hand experiences or may showcase service observed in others.
There is no minimum length required, but the maximum length of the essay is 1000 words. Also, the essays should be double-spaced. Each contestant may submit only one paper to the contest. To permit blind reviewing, there should be no self-references or other elements identifying the author within the paper. Therefore, all essays will be blindly reviewed and evaluated for both content and form.
“After initial judging, a small set of essays will be recognized for overall excellence and recommended for publication. The winning essays will then be selected from this group,” McCauley said.
Scholarships for the Fall 2018 semester will be awarded to first place ($1000), second place ($750) and third place ($250) submissions. Winners will also be recognized on the Academic Success Center’s website. In addition, the top submissions will be published on the SHSU American Democracy Project website.
Essays must be submitted by April 6, 2018 to asc@shsu.edu. Electronic submissions are required. Submissions should be sent as email attachments (.doc, .docx, or .rtf files only) with the email subject line as “The Measure of a Life is its Service Essay Contest”.
In the body of your email, please include: your full name, Sam ID, your e-mail address, your telephone number, and the following statement of authenticity: “I am submitting an original essay to the Sam Houston Academic Success Center essay contest. I certify that this essay is my own work. I understand that my essay will not be returned to me and may be used by Sam Houston State University for publication in promotional materials.”
For more information, contact the Academic Success Center at 936-294-3680.
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