With essays about diverse topics ranging from personal identity to historical analysis, several students have been recognized for their work in four writing contests.
Taariq Ahmed placed first and Emma Heo and Tejah Rana tied for second place in the 2024 Eunice McGuire essay contest, a school-based contest open to juniors held every spring.
Tejah, who wrote about grappling with her dual identity as both Indian and American, is grateful to have her personal story acknowledged and valued.
“You get that personal sense of achievement because you spent a lot of time dedicating words to what you really think,” Tejah said. “If you’re being honored for that work, that’s a really good feeling.”
Junior Daniel Wu earned an honorable mention in the New York Times Summer Writing Contest, which assesses work from high school students on current and impactful topics.
Daniel wrote about cultural connections between Chinese and Black communities through shared foods after learning about them on social media.
Ninth grader Ellie Rosenberg won a high commendation in the junior category at the John Locke Institute’s essay competition, an international contest based in Oxford, England, which has students explore topics in philosophy, politics, economics, history and law through in-depth essay writing.
Ellie wrote about whether 14-year-olds should be trusted to make decisions about their own bodies, examining issues like the mature minor doctrine, parental control laws and the autonomy of young teens in medical contexts.
“It was a stretch when I originally wrote it. I wrote it kind of more for fun, not really thinking anything would come of it,” Ellie said. “Being able to see that my hard work over the course of a month showed and came out good — it was really rewarding to hear.”
Senior Mia Lipson received second place in the David McCullough Essay Contest for The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History on her history research paper out of 621 students.
Mia wrote about American foreign policy during the Haitian Revolution, focusing on how the event shaped the United States’ international relations and extended into the transformative impact of foreign events on American policy.
“When I first got the award, I was really surprised and really grateful to my teacher, Dr. Jurrisson, for all of her help,” Mia said. “It was exciting to be recognized for all the work that I put into writing that paper.”
Ellie and Mia are members of the U-High Midway staff but were not involved in the writing or editing of this story.
