Student Wins Tampa Bay Times Writing Contest
Source/Author: Raffi Darrow, Ebytes Editor
October 16, 2015
In conjunction with the annual Tampa Bay Times Festival of Reading, the Newspaper in Education department of the paper hosts a high school writing contest. This year's theme was "Future Times: Florida in 2050", and the contest winner was Shorecrest sophomore Shannon O.
The writing contest accepted creative prose from students in grades 9-12 in public and private schools in Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco and Pinellas counties. Their task was to imagine the future, and write a short story set in the Florida of 2050.
As grand prize winner, Shannon is invited to read her winning story and receive her $100 award and plaque at the 23rd Annual Times Festival of Reading on Saturday, October 24. Her story will also be published on the Tampa Bay Times Newspaper in Education and University of South Florida Humanities Institute websites.
Here is a brief excerpt from her story:
The writing contest accepted creative prose from students in grades 9-12 in public and private schools in Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco and Pinellas counties. Their task was to imagine the future, and write a short story set in the Florida of 2050.
As grand prize winner, Shannon is invited to read her winning story and receive her $100 award and plaque at the 23rd Annual Times Festival of Reading on Saturday, October 24. Her story will also be published on the Tampa Bay Times Newspaper in Education and University of South Florida Humanities Institute websites.
Here is a brief excerpt from her story:
Finally, a girl breaks the silence. “This is the way it starts,” she says. “This is the way change starts. With people taking a stand.” She looks at each of us. “And that’s what we’re doing, in a way, isn’t it? It might seem like we’re hiding, but anything that goes against the system is an act of rebellion. So we’re rebels. We’re the ones who can change things; we’re the ones who can make a positive difference, one that means something.”
A boy sitting near me rejects this. “It’s not like we can change the world. There are four of us here. Four teenage rebels who only took a stand because we were too scared to face reality.”
The girl stares at him, contemplating something. Again looking at each of us in turn, she says, “No. We can’t change the world. That’s not pessimism, that’s just the fact. But we can change our own lives.”
And she’s right. She’s absolutely right, and it’s sad I never thought of what she's saying before. 
