Essay Contest

Essay Contest Overview

In The Martian, astronaut Mark Watney finds himself stranded on Mars. As he awaits rescue, he encounters a series of challenges and even disasters that threaten his life, but he comes up with creative solutions and perseveres. In a 500 to 600-word essay, describe a time you felt like you were on your own and had to solve an important problem. Provide a narrative of your experience.  

Format: The essay must be typed and have a creative title specific to the topic of your paper. The essay also must have clear paragraph designations. A submission that appears as one long paragraph will be disqualified. Using a formatting style like MLA or APA is recommended but not required.  

Contest Rules:  

• Attach a cover sheet to the essay that includes your name, FSCJ email address and phone number. 
• Contest is open to FSCJ students only. 
• By entering this contest, you consent to having your entry displayed in FSCJ galleries. 
• Submission deadline is February 16th by midnight. Winners will be announced on March 1st at the showing of the movie at South Campus. 
• Only one entry per student will be accepted. 

• Essays will be judged by a panel of FSCJ faculty and staff. 

Judging Criteria:  

• 50% on addressing the theme's message 
• 30% well-developed paragraphs and clear language 
• 20% on originality 

The essay should be organized with well-developed body paragraphs that highlight the subject's abilities and also contain minimal errors in the area of grammar, punctuation and mechanics. 

Submission Deadline: February 16th 2023 by midnight. Upload your essay to this link: Submit Essay Here (Links to an external site.) 

Prizes: First Place $300; Second Place: $200; Third Place: $150 

For questions, email Dr. Antee at a.antee@fscj.edu