Personal Essay Contest // 2020

Since 2018, The Writing Center@PVCC has been hosting the Walt Kehoe English 111 Personal Essay Contest to celebrate the voices and stories of entering PVCC students. We are pleased to share with you the 2020 winners. These essays were all submitted as assignments in English 111 classes in the fall, summer, or spring 2020 semesters. Entries were read and scored anonymously by Writing Center tutors. This year, since the vast majority of the PVCC community are working and learning remotely, Writing Center staff designed a website in order share our winners’ stories. The four winners and the six additional finalists are published here. We had many wonderful entries and selecting even these finalists was challenging. The eventual winners won us over through creative use of language, inventive storytelling, moving story, and distinctive voice. We invited the winners to meet with us prior to publication; otherwise, the essays appear here as they were submitted and reflect the work of developing writers. We hope you enjoy them.