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   from the issue of December 9, 2004

     
 
5 students win for essays honoring UNL instructors

Five creative UNL undergraduates have each won $1,000 - a $4-per-word payoff for their 250-word essays describing how their professors have engaged them.

From 146 entrees, judges picked five winners in the Engage, Connect and Balance Essay Contest sponsored by UNL and Nebraska's Subway Restaurants.

The winning authors are:

• Jennifer Edeal, a sophomore from Lexington, who described in her essay how chemistry instructor Bill McLaughlin has "instilled a few new elements in my 'periodic table of life.'"

• Allisyn Jensen, a sophomore from Kearney, tells how English instructor Hadara Bar-Nadav guided her to discover truth "through our writing, interaction with others and reflection on ourselves."

• Patrick McAtee, a senior from Omaha, details how architectural engineering professor Lily Wang welcomed him to audit a class and "connected me with the larger scientific community."

• Benjamin Polly, a junior from Lincoln, writes that because of professors like Eveline Baesu, engineering mechanics, "students like myself are being engaged, connected and are learning to balance their college experience in order to have a life-changing adventure."

• Stephanie Sparks, a senior from Lincoln, said communication studies instructor Rachel Friedman "engaged my scholarship, my humanity and my understanding that each individual is an integral part in the fabric of modern society."

The winning essays will be available online at http://engage.unl.edu/.

The essay contest challenged full-time UNL undergraduates to explain how they have been helped by a UNL professor to engage, connect and balance in order to better succeed in school. Entries were accepted online and judged by a panel of UNL students from the Chancellor's Leadership Class, who were not eligible to enter.

The essay contest is part of a multifaceted campaign including radio advertising and messages on campus and in Subway's stores. The campaign plays on Subway's theme, "Choose Well," emphasizing healthy food choices, and UNL's messages encouraging students to "engage, connect and balance" in order to succeed in school.

According to UNL officials, to engage means to involve oneself intellectually in a course's subject matter through active participation in class and to make the extra effort to go beyond course requirements. To connect is to become an active participant in the UNL community, and to balance refers to managing one's lifestyle so that physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual needs are met.


GO TO: ISSUE OF DECEMBER 9

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