Writing South Carolina , livre ebook

WRITING SOUTH CAROLINA
Seniors- Seated, left to right: Sydny Long, Madison Motes, Shannon Dunn, Maggie Mahoney, Camryn Quick, Victoria Riley, Cynthia Gonzales, Savannah St. Peter; second row: Jesni Sam, Jessica Elkins, Shionnah Wallace, Chyna Wallace, Alexandra Batista, Morgan Mayne-Alexander, Pam Durban, Sandra Lopez, Mainaiya Myers, Madison Jones, Grace Justice, Madeline Hahn; third row: Conrad Pentaleri, Caleb A. Hylkema, Sam Beckley, Codie Powell, Steven Greer, Aydian Rainey, Kimberly Frisch, Alaina Kiffer.
Absent: Charles Carter .
Photographs by Clint Cook.
Not all competition finalists participated in this collection.

Juniors- Seated, left to right: Chlo Hylkema, Michelle Mayer, Morgan Davis, Destiny Turner, Macy Gault, Karlee Jenae Price, Carleigh Gregory; second row: Sophie Bellomy, Bailey Abedon, Constance Reid, Mary Kathryn Davidson, Haven Miller, Natoria Smalls, Pam Durban, Amanda Taylor, A. J. Blanton, Molly Transou, Sarah Suber, LaVang Bui, Selah Hamby, Mackenzie Marcum; third row: Jasmine Smith, Vinita Cheepurupalli, Destiny Jackson, Taylor Kahn-Perry, Courtney Wickstrom, Adeline Rosenberger, Naomi Matthusen, Stephen Brooke, Hunter Burgess, Mia Jones, W. J. Queen, Landon Phipps; fourth row: Noah Barnes, Reece Brown, Malachi Jones, Angelica Rogers, Erika Clark, Jason Mahaffey.
Absent: Roann Abdeladl, Emilee Cox, Molly Cribb, Airielle Lowe, Janneke Morin .
Photographs by Clint Cook
WRITING SOUTH CAROLINA

VOLUME 4
Selections from the Fourth Annual High School Writing Contest
Edited by A da Rogers and Steven Lynn
2019 University of South Carolina
Published by the University of South Carolina Press
Columbia, South Carolina 29208
www.sc.edu/uscpress
28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data can be found at http://catalog.loc.gov/
ISBN 978-1-61117-998-9 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-61117-999-6 (ebook)

Kim Shealy Jeffcoat, Series Editor
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Juniors
Interfaith Dialogue and Collaboration: The Key to Embracing Diversity
The Most Turbulent Journey to Peace
Roann Abdeladl (First Place)
Pallid Hubris
Americana
Chlo Hylkema (Second Place)
The Case against Capital Punishment
My Love for the Mockingbird
Angelica Rogers (Third Place)
Monster of Our Roots
The Journey Home
Stephen Brooke (Honorable Mention)
What the Headlines Won t Mention: Walter Scott 2015
I Come From
Taylor Kahn-Perry (Honorable Mention)
South Carolina Superhero
Am I Good Enough
Destiny Jackson (Honorable Mention)
Just One
Where I m From
Airielle Lowe (Honorable Mention)
Pain from the Past
From the Forgotten
W. J. Queen (Honorable Mention)
Unbuckling the Bible Belt
The Women Who Built Me
Adeline Rosenberger (Honorable Mention)
A Gordian Knot of Our Own
Departed
Courtney Wickstrom (Honorable Mention)
As a Metal Box
Red
Bailey Abedon
Religious Reform
The Blue House
Noah Barnes
Toy World
I Come from Thank You
Sophie Bellomy
A Disguised Dilemma
Tuesdays
Reece Brown
Murdered for Murdering
Faith
LaVang Bui
Mishaps
Home
Vinita Cheepurupalli
Carolina in My Mind
Lust for Life
Erika Clark
The Powerful Voice of Positivity and the People
Don t Be a Reason Why
Emilee Cox
A Question of Safety
Everyday Heroes
Molly Cribb
Summer s South Carolina
My Past, My Present, My Future
Mary Kathryn Davidson
S.O.S. Save Our State!
Longing/Ambition
Morgan Davis
Who Am I?
Not Everything Comes Easy
Macy Gault
Fighting for Longer Lives
Under the Influence of Stephen King
Carleigh Gregory
A Bigger South Carolina
Phenom
Selah Hamby
Shooting Pebbles at the Sun
DNA: Do Not Be Afraid
Malachi Jones
Perspective
Home
Mia Jones
A Foster Kid Speaks Up
I Come from Forgiveness
Jason Mahaffey
Illegal to Educate
The Greatest Came from a Tragedy
Mackenzie Marcum
Reforming a Broken System: SC Alimony Laws
Germlish
Naomi Matthusen
Whispering Oaks
Childhood
Michelle Mayer
Our Hidden Beauty
Where I Come From
Haven Miller
El Estado Biling e (The Bilingual State)
I Come from Running
Janneke Morin
The Ceilings Don t Work, but the TVs Do
A Passion for South Carolina
Landon Phipps
Another Day
A Shared Birthday Gift
Constance Reid
At the End of Time
Even Death Has a Heart
Natoria Smalls
Building a Better South Carolina
Humble Beginnings
Jasmine Smith
The Island a World Away
From Timid to Confident
Sarah Suber
South Carolina, How Does Your Garden Grow?
What Planted the Seed
Amanda Taylor
Perfect Obliteration
What My Grandfather Gave Me
Molly Transou
Big Improvements for South Carolina
Success from Hardships
Destiny Turner
Seniors
C for Corrosion of Curriculum
The Entitled
Savannah St. Peter (First Place)
Love Is Love Is Love Is Love
Grieving with Seagulls
Kimberly Frisch (Second Place)
They Tried to Take Your Voice Away
The Arm
Sydny Long (Third Place)
Ignorance s Education
The Transparency of Diversity
Cynthia Gonzales (Honorable Mention)
GSAs for a Better South Carolina
I Come From
Madeline Hahn (Honorable Mention)
For the Love of a Daughter
Love Yourself
Madison Motes (Honorable Mention)
Recipe for a Mixed Girl
Ode to Mother
Shionnah Wallace (Honorable Mention)
The Opposite of Moving Forward
Encouragement from the Doctor
Morgan Mayne-Alexander
How One Healthy Solution Can Lead to Others
The Secret to Success
Alexandra Batista
South Carolina s Final Exam
The Battle of Time
Sam Beckley
South Carolina s Movie Crisis
The Giving Book
Charles Carter
Murky Eyes
A New Horizon
Shannon Dunn
What Shapes Our Horizon
Unknown Loneliness
Jessica Elkins
Making Foreign Language Less Foreign
Palmetto Proud
Steven Greer
Natural Beauty and Beautiful People
The Power of Disagreement
Caleb A. Hylkema
Keep Them at Home
Those Who Shaped Me
Madison Jones
The Flaws in the Education System
Finding Family, Hope, and Trust
Grace Justice
The Call
The Road I Travel
Alaina Kiffer
Stereo South
Culture
Sandra Lopez
The Voice of the Silent Victims
I Come from You
Maggie Mahoney
Broken
Dysfunctional and Perfect
Mainaiya Myers
Getting to the Root of the Problems: The Deficiencies of the SC Public Education System
Inspiration from Fitzgerald s The Great Gatsby
Conrad Pentaleri
Domestic Violence and Deadly Silence
The Window to the Soul
Codie Powell
Hospitality versus Heritage
My Soul Book
Camryn Quick
One Choice
The Backs of My Family Members
Aydian Rainey
Crime against the Future
Traveling Two Roads
Jesni Sam
A New Generation
A Lesson from an Unexpected Place
Chyna Wallace
Southern Values
Where I Come From
Victoria Wiley
Contributors
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Generosity shows itself in many ways. For the 2016-17 South Carolina High School Writing Contest, generosity was personified by our grand judges. Short story writer and novelist Pam Durban and poet Nikky Finney-both nationally acclaimed, both South Carolina born and raised-didn t hesitate when we asked if they d speak to our young finalists and read their work. These are busy people. They teach, tour, write, and manage college classrooms as well as personal households. It took all our nerve to ask them, and we were thrilled when they said yes. We thank them, knowing that their time is limited and precious and that judging these entries was no easy task.
We also thank our presenting partner the South Carolina State Library and its executive director, Leesa Aiken. With their support we were able to give our finalists copies of earlier volumes of Writing South Carolina as well as Found Anew: Poetry and Prose Inspired by the South Caroliniana Library Digital Collections , which includes a foreword by Professor Finney and an essay by Professor Durban. Likewise we thank our other presenting partner, the Pat Conroy Literary Center, whose support allowed us to continue giving prizes to winners. We salute Thad Westbrook, a South Carolina Honors College alumnus who generously funds the prize for our first-place senior, naming it for one of his University of South Carolina professors, Walter Edgar. We also send a thank-you hug to our anonymous donor who funds the first-place junior prize, which is named for the late Dorothy Skelton Williams, an upstate educator who never met a child who couldn t learn.
This effort wouldn t fly at all without the University of South Carolina Press. Interim director Linda Haines Fogle and her staff manage the myriad tasks associated with getting a book edited, designed, published, distributed, and stored. We are honored to be associated with this group of professionals