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First-Year Summer Reading Program Essay Contest

We are pleased to announce the current and previous winners of the First-Year Summer Reading Essay Contest, open to all members of each year’s incoming class. The general topic of the essay is the Illinois Wesleyan University Summer Reading Program selection. Each year students have the opportunity to discuss the selection during New Student Orientation with the university community, take part in programming for the corresponding year’s intellectual theme, listen to the voices of our faculty and staff, and hear the voice of the selection’s author during the President’s Convocation. The discussion stands incomplete without the most important voices of all—our students' voices.

Award Winners from 2023 2023

The Power of Place, and How it Helps to Shape Our Society, Emma Mei Kudelka

Award Winners from 2022 2022

Metamorphosis, Delainey Guiney '26

"I'm there for you", Celina El Ghossaini '26

Create Your Power, Samuel Fogarty '26

Award Winners from 2021 2021

Health and Hope, Abbie Graue '25

Lead Poisoning and A Deadly Virus: Two Wakeup Calls for A Nation, Melinda Burgin '25

Award Winners from 2020 2020

Ignoring the Cries of The People, Albert Sterner '24

The Holy Trinity, Anusha Bhojanam '24

Acceptable Losses, Mara Mulvin '24

Award Winners from 2019 2019

A Multitude of Truths, Elise Damasco '23

The Innocence of the Innocent, Shivam Dharmendra Patel '23

Award Winners from 2018 2018

The Power of Transformation, Jared Schneider '22

Parallel Transitions of American Towns and Families, Kathryn Vogler '22

Girl in a Boy Body: The Complexity of Being Oneself, Amanda Smith '22

Award Winners from 2017 2017

The Manufacturing of the MENA Race, Gabrielle Ghaderi '21

Sibling Worlds, David Nicolas Lopez Moncayo '21

The Manmade Construct of Race, Tatum Zsorey '21

Award Winners from 2016 2016

Differences Between Afghan and American Gender Politics: Subtle Versus Blatant Sexism, and Both Their Dangers, Mary Amanda Breeden '20

Global Feminism: A Comparison of Gender Roles in Afghanistan and the United States, Alexa Letourneau '20

Endless Possibilities Await, Naing Lin Tun '20

Award Winners from 2015 2015

Still a Jerk, Benjamin Alan Zentner '19

Between Two Worlds, Emma Marie Haan '19

The Complexity of Balance, Kathryn Halford '19