Mt. SAC Early College Academy’s Wolf Pack Academic Booster Club’s annual Essay Contest has officially started and is open until Feb. 27 at 3:45 p.m. The topic: Discuss how an unexpected experience challenged you and ultimately shaped your future ambitions.

The contest is open to all students and organized by grade level. Prizes for first through third place depend on grade level. For seniors, the prizes are $500 for first place, $300 for second place, and $200 for third place. For non-seniors, the prizes are $50 gift cards for first, $30 gift cards for second, and $20 gift cards for third.

Essays will be scored based on adherence to the topic, organization, vocabulary, style, grammar, neatness, and conformity to the rules of the contest. Additionally, the contest rules state that no explicit mention of MECA, yourself, or your family may be made. This is to ensure the anonymity of all essays during judging.

Essays can be turned in to the WPABC mailbox in the front office. All submissions must have an attached title page with the official topic, number of words, name, address, phone number, and name of school. The essay must be between 500-600 words and written in MLA format, meaning 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, double-spaced, and centered page numbers at the bottom of each page, without last name included—contrary to MLA format.

Every essay will be assigned a number before judging, and the title page will be used to identify the winners. Once notified, winners will have until June 6 to claim their award.

The essays will be scored by three judges, including a Wolf Pack Booster Club member, a member of staff, and a non-Wolf Pack judge.

For any questions, email [email protected].

Click here to get a copy of the application and contest rules.