Writing South Carolina: Selections from the Third Annual High School Writing Contest

by Carolina Fund, Aïda Rogers (Editor), Steven Lynn (Editor), Mary Alice Monroe (Foreword by)

Overview

"How can we make South Carolina better?" Normally this issue is reserved for lawmakers and voters, but Writing South Carolina, volume 3, gives voice to fifty high school juniors and seniors from across the Palmetto State who have offered suggestions. The University of South Carolina Honors College annual writing contest presents a necessary voice for them as well as a revealing portrait of their lives and desires using their own words and insights. Contest judge Mary Alice Monroe provides the foreword for this volume and has said of the contributing students, "They are astonishingly talented, further ahead in the game than I was at their age."

Through a variety of short, creative genres, students share their own gripping experiences in South Carolina, often about of growing up and going to school here. This year's selections range from poems about the cycle of abuse to short stories about minimum wage to essays about problematic sex education in public schools. Writing South Carolina, volume 3, offers a collection steeped in creativity, honesty, and clarity. High school students witness and encounter some of the most subtle and serious problems in South Carolina's school system—and they demand change.

Monroe, a New York Times best-selling author of children's books and novels, including A Lowcountry Christmas and The Butterfly's Daughter, provides a foreword.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611179187
Publisher:	University of South Carolina Press
Publication date:	10/15/2018
Series:	Young Palmetto Books
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Aïda Rogers is a writer for the University of South Carolina Honors College and editor of State of the Heart: South Carolina Writers on the Places They Love, an anthology series published by the University of South Carolina Press.

Table of Contents

Foreword Mary Alice Monroe xiii

Acknowledgments xvii

Juniors

Raising Violence 3

Twenty-First-Century Pigeon House Alyssa Conner (First Place) 7

Speaking for Those Too Young to Understand 10

That One Line Erin Hackney (Second Place) 12

South Carolina, or, A State of Improvement 14

The Words That Wouldn't Come Out Sydny Long (Third Place) 16

Teenage Roulette 18

Cheer Up Sarah Finleyson (Honorable Mention) 21

Simple Solutions 23

Krasivaya Alaina Kiffer (Honorable Mention) 25

The "S" Word 27

I Believe in Magic Bailey Babb 29

The Decrescendo of the Arts 31

The Power of the Written Word Candace Beebe 34

The New Renaissance 36

A Grave Understanding Issac Blackwell 38

Diary Entry from an Abuse Victim 40

My Experience with Southport Morgan Blankenbecklor 42

Going Green in South Carolina 44

Metamorphosis Emily Brooke 47

Dirty Little Secret 49

Forever Branded De-Jab Burton 51

Improving South Carolina by Improving the Lives of Future Citizens 53

Inspired by the Fight Alexandra Hurd 55

Growth of a Palmetto 57

Mice-Related Inspiration Hali Hutchinson 59

"16" 61

A New Way to Grow Up Jaynae Jefferson 63

How Can You Fix It? 65

Being Inspired Mya' Johnson-Jones 70

Renewing Our Reputation, Expanding Our Borders 72

People Skills Eliza Kapeluck 74

The Great Carolina? 76

Lessons from The Kite Runner Manogna Kolluru 78

This Crystal Is Not a Girl's Best Friend 80

How Captain Underpants Decided My Future Alan Lanxton 82

The Iodine State 84

Pearly Gates Patsy Mejia-Rocha 86

The Fallacy of Neglect, Neighbors, and Other Things 88

Holdenification: The Extent to Which a Fictional Character Changed My Perspective on Life Breanna Murrin 90

Carolina State of Mind 93

The Moment I Escaped Death Zyria Rodgers 95

A State Left Behind 97

Feeling Invisible Hampton Slate 100

Seniors

Losing Jake: A South Carolina Problem 105

The Body's Mechanics Erintrude Wrona (First Place) 107

The Confederate Ghost 109

Representation Matters Jasmine Shabazz (Second Place) 111

Letter to a Beaufort Businessman after He Tipped Me a Twenty for Telling Him How Much His Yogurt Cost 113

Learning to Know: Finding Change from A Visit from the Goon Squad Anna Sheppard (Third Place) 115

Buttered Biscuits, Cotton Hair, Dirty Jokes, and the Kardashians 117

How Mr. May Made Me a Poet Hannah Jane Pearson (Honorable Mention) 119

"They's a-goin'" 121

"It's a hard job, son" John Sterling Poole (Honorable Mention) 124

Just a Book Bag 126

Life-Changing Read Amairany Aguirre 127

The State of Things 129

Down the Alleyway Jamie Altman 130

Broken Together 131

Assassins and Hope Michelle Barton 133

A Lost Privilege 136

The Battle of Inspiration Tavashia Berry 138

The Box That Hinders Us 140

Help-ing Me to Love Reading Mallory Clamp 142

New Car, New Rules, Same Old State 145

Losing Faith and Finding It Again Brandi Cunningham 147

They Blocked Paradise and Put Up a Billboard 149

Which Tree to Be Christian Eitel 151

Loved by Everyone 153

Life and Afterlife Alexis Etheredge 155

All of Them 157

Revelation on Mango Street Nicolas Fernandez 159

The Importance of Social Events 161

Books-the Spark That Lights Imagination Maxwell T. Hall 163

South Carolina's Other Prejudice 165

Ever-Changing Perspective Andrew Herbst 167

Cursive Recurrence 169

Extremely Insightful and Incredibly Life-Changing Megan Jensen 172

The Girl with the Butterfly Clips 174

It Started on Page 4 Abby Johanson 177

Unspoken Cries 179

How I Define Living Katherine Kristinik 181

The Dreamer 183

Caged Birds Jared Mack 186

Fine Arts: Why Are They Important? 188

Learning from a Tragedy Milner Martin 191

Recommended Strategies to Ignite Economic Growth 193

The Ultimate Mentor Book Isis McNeal 196

It Is Time to Fix Our Roads and Bridges 198

A World to Explore Aimee McVey 200

A Melody to a Nightingale 202

Finding Expression Kenni Ojediran 204

Finding the Answer 205

The Craving Morgan Rizer 207

The Time Has Come 209

Vanishing the Past Melis Tirhi 211

You'll Have to Watch Yourself 213

Lessons from Russian Aristocracy Taylor Widener 215

Finding Liberation 217

Salvation Sarah Williams-Shealy 219

Contributors 221