The winners of NDSU’s first W-Challenge writing contest were announced during the inaugural Showcase of Student Writing on May 3.

In the contest, undergraduate students were invited to submit projects that could incorporate visual, audio, digital or other media, but needed to include a substantial written component.

“So many people today say our students can’t (or don’t) write. By recognizing these students and their projects, we are excited to prove them wrong,” said Lisa Arnold, assistant professor of English and competition co-organizer.

“A lot of students are great writers, and the W-Challenge gave them a chance to share their creativity and skill, while receiving tangible rewards,” said competition co-organizer Andrew Mara, professor and upper-division writing director.

Honorees and their writing projects are:

Creative writing:

1. Joe Jessop, “The Moses Bus”

2. Molly Scherer, “Em-barking on a New Journey”

3. Krista Foerster, “Homes Away from Home”

Academic writing:

1. Olivia Vogt, “Film in Black and White”

2. Andrew Wolf, “Analyzing Plato’s Immortal Soul Argument and Its Compatibility with Dualism”

3. Austin-Alexius Klein, “Betrayed to Slavery for a Degenerate Race”

Everyday writing:

1. Jared Melville, “Frankenstein: Reloaded”

2. Benjamin Norman, “We Must Fight Unfounded Fear”

3. Emily Lange, “Prayer”

Professional writing:

1. Alexis Pearson, “Improving Our Wetlands”

2. Alyssa Voelker, “Re-Engineering Mosquitoes”

3. Alexandra Howatt, Michelle Klose, Nicholas Hugo and Abby Lange, “Synergistic Solutions”

Foreign languages:

ESL: Qiying Ma, “Profile of Seeun Choi”

French: Michael Pfau, “La Noblesse Française”

Spanish: Greg Schlangen, “La Reina”

Jonathan Materi, “Gotas de Agua”

Sarah Gibbs Schnucker, “Miel”

Chinese: Mengkun Yang, “空中惊魂”

Sundog Award (Overall) winner: Jared Melville, “Frankenstein: Reloaded”

Sundog honorable mention: Olivia Vogt, “Film in Black and White”

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