Women’s History Month Essay Contest
Simone Noronha/New York Times.
By: Tracy Osawe, Professor Madelyn Ferrans, J.D. (Ed.) and Professor Bruce Peabody (Ed.)
February 9, 2024
The UPLJ is excited about its inaugural essay contest for current high school students (grades 9-12). This essay contest was established in honor of Women’s History Month. Both Fairleigh Dickinson University (“FDU”) and The UPLJ are dedicated to ensuring that the voices of all women are heard and respected.
Although women have increased their representation in the U.S. political system, they are still inadequately represented. Thus, the issue of facilitating further representation needs to be addressed. Accordingly, The UPLJ has initiated its first Women’s History Month Essay Contest for high school students (“Essay Contest”). The Essay Contest will provide high school students with the opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas on how women can increase their representation in the U.S. political system.
Voices of younger generations will define our future. Therefore, in order to nurture the thoughts and ideas of younger generations we must engage in open conversations. The Essay Contest established by The UPLJ facilitate those conversations.
Meghan Markle, former actress and current Duchess of Sussex, has stated that “Women don’t need to find their voices. They need to feel empowered to use [them] and people need to be encouraged to listen”. The UPLJ is committed to promoting that type of dialogue.
All contestants must submit their essays no later than Friday, March 15, 2024 by 11:59 P.M. The UPLJ review board – which consists of three FDU professors, one FILL student (Florham Institute for Lifelong Learning, a program for returning students who wish to continue their higher education journey) and two editors from The UPLJ – will choose two finalists. The essay written by the first-place winner will be published in The UPLJ, and the author will receive a $100 gift card and be invited to present the essay at FDU. The second-place winner will receive a $50 gift card and an Honorable Mention in The UPLJ.
Please visit Essay Contest in order to both complete an application and submit your essay. In the event that you encounter any difficulties with this process or have any questions please feel free to contact our Editor Kaitlyn Kymer at k.kymer@student.fdu.edu.
We look forward to reading your essay submissions.
Consultant: Mark Wolf, Esq.