New Jersey Association for Lifelong Learning 2017
Adult Learner Writing Contest
Five of our students won awards for their entries in the 2017 NJALL Learner Writing Contest, in pieces that ranged from escaping the war in Syria to the intricacies of the mind, and several were selected to read their submissions last month at the organization’s annual conference. Congratulations to all of our student writers, including these five recognized by NJALL:
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Abir Alkousa
In a moving personal story about adjusting to life in the U.S. with two young sons, while filled with worries about her husband, parents, and relatives who remained in war-torn Syria, and the the struggle to regain her strength, courage, and confidence, Abir won the first-place memoir prize for “I Would Become My Dreams.” |
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Esteban Morales
Ever wonder about the things that anger us and how they seem uncontrollable? In “Anger: A Call for Healing,” Esteban writes that anger is the result of an event where we suffered emotional pain that’s stored away in our minds. His argument, that emotions like anger can be controlled by healing the stored away pain, earned the Peruvian native a second-place award for non-fiction. |
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Fernanda Contreras
Her gift for poetry is well-known and her writing stirs up the deepest emotions in readers. For the second-consecutive year, Fernanda took home a poetry award, this time a third-place prize for “I’m Waiting for You,” the story of an expectant mother and her dreams for her soon-to-arrive son. |
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Jouseth Coba
It was August 2001 and Jouseth, a young doctor assigned to a children’s hospital in Ecuador, took up her new post while a physician’s strike over low wages raged outside the building. Her gripping account of a night where she and a handful of staff handled a hospital full of emergencies and trauma landed her a third-place memoir-writing award. |
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Maritza Chang
In the enchanted world of Airam the fairy, only a select few receive an invite to the North Kingdom. But when Airam accepts the invite and relocates, she discovers that not all is good in the North. She loses her fairy power and is muted by her inability to speak the language. Maritza’s clever analogy of life for a new immigrant such as she, a former child psychologist from Peru who arrives in the U.S. unable to fully communicate and work in her field, won the first-place award for fiction. |
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