Essay Competition
Each year, FYE invites students to compete in the Fifth Annual First College Year Essay Contest. This competition engages students through critical thinking and analytic reasoning about a current local or global issue. The competition is only open to students in their first college year at CMU with not more than 20 credit hours.
Fifth Annual First College Year Essay Competition (2009-10)
Overview
The First-Year Experience Program at Central Michigan University is pleased to announce the Fifth Annual First College Year Essay Competition. This annual event allows new CMU students an opportunity to showcase critical and creative thinking about a current local and global issue. This year, the competition seeks creative ideas on the topic of "going green" and improving community sustainability.
Eligibility
Students in their first college year at CMU with not more than 20 credit hours are eligible to participate in the competition.
Timeline
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12.7.09 Deadline for Essay Submission to fye@cmich.edu
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1.5.10 Winners notified
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1.22.10 Winning essays posted online at www.fye.cmich.edu
Prizes
First Up to $400 in free books for Spring Semester 2010
Second $125.00 from the CMU Bookstore
Third $75.00 from the CMU Bookstore
Procedures
Essays need to be in at least a 12-point font (Arial or Times New Roman), typewritten, 1.5 or double-spaced and not longer than five pages. Participants must submit the final essay as an attachment through electronic mail to
FYE@CMICH.EDU. Also, participants must provide the following information on a separate title page:-
First & Last Name
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Campus/Local Address
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Primary Telephone Number (cell or campus/local)
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Email Address
Criteria
Reviewers consider the overall quality and freshness of content, coherence, and creativity during the blind review of each essay.
2009 Essay Topic Prompt
In order to prepare themselves for the challenges of the future, college students need to be aware of the importance of social responsibility. Being "socially responsible" means that people and organizations must behave ethically and with sensitivity toward the environment and the economy and ensure equity among individuals. Examples of social responsibility include: using sustainable building materials, voting in elections, composting organic waste, making ethical business decisions and volunteering. What can CMU students do to be leaders in the social responsibility movement?
Essay Question
Write an essay highlighting one aspect of social responsibility that is most important for college students and recent graduates. Make a persuasive argument for why this cause is so relevant to today's youth and provide specific examples of how students can make a difference in this area.
Suggestions
Do as much outside research as you need to support your ideas. While you must appropriately reference your sources and give credit to the ideas of others, you are encouraged to include your own ideas and be creative in discussing and supporting your position. If possible, talk with others around campus (faculty, staff and your peers) to find out what they think about this issue.
Resources
Below are just a few resources to help you begin your research.
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Central Michigan University Libraries
Social Responsibility Initiative http://sri.osu.edu/
Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative http://www.hks.harvard.edu/m-rcbg/CSRI/
Sustainability Institute
Sustainable Communities Network
Serve.gov http://www.serve.gov
Circle - Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement
Center for Civic Education -
American Democracy Project for Civic Engagement -
Civic Engagement and Service Learning -
Global Stewards -
Online Guides
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Google Scholar http://scholar.google.com
Online Writing Lab http://owl.english.purdue.edu
