First Place winners at the President's Writing Awards for Literature Based Research

President's Writing Awards

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Ready to show off your writing skills? College of Western Idaho's (CWI) annual President's Writing Awards contest celebrates the power of student voices across campus. Whether you are into storytelling, research, poetry, or analysis, there is a category for you. Join us in highlighting the importance of writing across disciplines, and take your shot at winning a cash prize! 

Submission Deadline: February 2026

 

Contest Rules

To enter the President's Writing Awards, you must be a current CWI student and follow these contest rules: 

  • All submissions must be original coursework written at CWI — previously published work is not eligible. 
  • You may enter more than one category, but only one submission is allowed per category.
    • Each piece may only be submitted to one category.
    • Entries submitted to the wrong category will not be moved or reassigned.
  • Submissions that do not meet category criteria or contest rules will be disqualified.
  • Contest organizers will not make edits to help submissions meet requirements.
  • Staff members enrolled as students at CWI are welcome to participate. Faculty members are not eligible. 

Awards

Awards will be given for first, second, and third place in each category.

  • 1st Place – $500

  • 2nd Place – $350

  • 3rd Place – $200

Categories

First-Year Writing

  • Essay completed for 101-level courses (e.g., CWID 101, ENGL 101, etc.).
  • Essay should not exceed 10 pages.

Creative Nonfiction

  • First-person account that explore the writer's experiences or observations.

Fiction

  • Short story — a complete, stand-alone piece of fiction.

Poetry

  • Poem of any length and form.

Critical Analysis

  • Critical evaluation or analysis of a piece of literature, a theatrical performance, a work of visual art, a historical moment, a philosophical argument, a social movement, etc.

Literature Based Research

  • Research essay analyzing published sources.
  • Documentation style should be specific to discipline.
  • Essay should not exceed 20 pages.

Original Research

  • Report of findings from original research conducted by the student on a topic through experiments, surveys, observations, lab reports, etc.
  • Documentation style should be specific to discipline.

Workplace Writing

  • Document created for a professional setting to provide instruction, direction, or explanation.
  • May include brochures, grant requests, business proposals, memos, press releases, etc.

Submissions

Submitting your writing is easy — just follow these steps: 

  • Remove all identifying information (e.g., your name, instructor's name, class, etc.) from the manuscript.
  • Save your work as a .doc, .docx, .rtf, or .pdf file. 
  • Submit online through the link below using your CWI login.
  • Include with your submission: 
    • Your name
    • Preferred email 
    • Student ID number
    • Class, semester, and name of instructor the submission was written for

By submitting your work to the President's Writing Awards, you confirm your work is original and free of plagiarism. Instructors will verify finalist submissions were completed as part of CWI coursework.

Submit Your Writing

Scoring & Selection

Once your work is submitted: 

  • Your piece will be read and ranked by a panel of three CWI instructors. 
  • Finalists in each category will be sent to the President of the College for final judging. 
  • First, second, and third place winners in each category will be notified via email and celebrated at the Connections Project Awards Ceremony in April. 
  • To receive prize money, winners must submit a W-9 form.

Past Winners

2024 President's Writing Awards Winners

Creative Nonfiction

  • First Place: Rebecca Young, "Graveyard Shelf"
  • Second Place: Aspen Rice, "Looking Out"
  • Third Place: Ali Murphy, "Ketchup"

Poetry

  • First Place: Kassie Kolbet, "Weight of the World"
  • Second Place: Sam Hazard, "Dead Men Smoking"
  • Third Place: Adilene Ambriz, "Mangos"

Fiction

  • First Place: Rebecca Young, "Redemption"
  • Second Place: Ali Murphy, "Salvation Knoll"
  • Third Place: Mak Gilley, "Late Night"

First-Year Writing

  • First Place: Dave Barnard, "Harvesting the Fields of My Voice"
  • Second Place: Nat Patkowski, "Don't Dream It's Over"
  • Third Place: Shannon Javanbakht, "From Punishment to Progress: Why Recovery Homes Matter"

Literature-Based Research

  • First Place: Jessica Tisch, Sunny Smart, Amanda Pieroni, Kerry Draper, and Garrett French, "Social Media Use and Narcissism: Examining how Self-Perception, Socialization, Culture, and Socio-Emotional Connections Relate to Vulnerable, Grandiose, and Communal Narcissism and Social Media Use"
  • Second Place: Sarah Garrett, "Addressing the Need of Mental Health Education: Effect on Children's Academic and Personal Development"
  • Third Place: Taylor Hubbard, "Labor in the American Civil War: Causes of the New York Strikes of Late 1863"

Original Research

  • First Place: Jessica Tisch, "Cognitive Distortions: A Survey About Thinking Strategies and Their Relationship to Social Anxiety, Perfectionism, and Attachment"
  • Second Place: Jakob Stevens, "Cognitive Distortions: A Survey Analyzing Thinking Strategies and Their Relationship to Emotional Reasoning, Perfectionism, and Academic Success" 
  • Third Place: Sarah Garrett, "Nature Connectedness and Well-Being: Self-Reported Effect of Time Spent Outdoors on an Individual's Overall Health"

Critical Analysis

  • First Place: Peyton MacDonald, "Tet Offensive During the Vietnam War: Change in American Sentiment"
  • Second Place: Breanna Perkins, "Salem Village: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire"
  • Third Place: Rye Johnson, "Prison Structures and Subservience

Workplace Writing

  • First Place: Ashlynn Banning, "Communication is a Human Right"
  • Second Place: Mietta Sibert, "Emergency Response and Preparedness"
  • Third Place: Sarah Garrett, "The Impact of Independence" 

Questions?

headshot role additional
Revision_id: 159799
Photo of Dave Nicholas
Dave Nicholas
Professor, English
Dept of English
208.562.2533
davenicholas@cwi.edu
Revision_id: 159799
Photo of Heather Schoenherr
Heather Schoenherr
Professor, Psychology
Dept of Social Sciences
208.562.3310
heatherschoenherr@cwi.edu
APIN 1113