THE Northern Marianas Humanities Council announced that the second iteration of the My Marianas Writing Contest has launched, with a deadline of May 4, at 4 p.m.
The contest first took place last year, with the intent of capturing the uniqueness of perspectives here in the Marianas. It is open to high school students in grades 9 to 12 in the public and private school systems. This year’s theme is entitled “Senses of Home” and asks participants to reflect on home “as experienced through one or more of their senses.”
The overall winner of the contest will walk away with $500.
Naomi Tudela, Humanities Council program manager, says that the contest is a wonderful opportunity for high school students.
“The theme ‘Senses of Home’ is a question that anyone can answer if they’re from the CNMI,” Tudela said. “We wanted to hear from the individual students themselves so we can all connect.”
Tudela clarified that “home” does not have to mean just the four walls of a physical house. She encourages students to think deeply and creatively, and to relate their essays to the Marianas as a whole.
“We want the students to talk about what specific smells or sights or sounds trigger core memories in them.”
For students who might be nervous to have their work put on the spotlight, Tudela also announced that on April 22 at 9 a.m. the Humanities Council will host a writing workshop to directly support potential participants (location still to be determined).
The workshop will review the contest rubric, how to write personal narrative essays, and much more.
According to the official contest rubric available at the Humanities Council website, the essays must be between three to five pages long and written in size 12 font in Times New Roman or similar style.
Essays will be judged according to cohesion of structure, use of imagery, how well they hold interest, and if they are original and honest.
All works should be submitted to [email protected]/. Full contest rules and rubric are available at nmhcouncil.org. Tudela can be reached at [email protected]/.
