Writing Assignment Winners of 2006

See also: 2007 Winners

Nicole Ambrose, Pre-professional
Lauren Beard, Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism
Bree Bjorholm, Retail and Consumer Services
Jessie Campbell, Undecided
Ena Djordjevic, English
Collins Eke, Aerospace Engineering
Mark Jennings, Communications
Lindsay McClain, Pre-professional
Matt Muecke, Pre-professional
Angela Pack, Biological Sciences
Jonathan Ramsay, Psychology
Adrian Sanchez, Physics
Maxi Tittel, Architecture
Wissam Tobea, Biomedical Engineering
Angela Watson, Graphic Design
Thomas Louden Wright, English

Comment by awardee Wissam Tobea on the Life of the Mind Program and Laila Lalami’s Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits

At first I thought this was going to be another ordinary summer reading program; it did not take long to realize how important this book is.  I decided to read the book and do the essay early because of the pressure Orientation placed on us.  I started reading the book, and I became more interested in it as I kept reading further because I became more knowledgeable about and sympathetic to the people living in Morocco.  The book gave me an idea of how the poor live in some countries and how immigrants are desperately trying to flee their poverty-stricken country.

Since I am also an immigrant, I wrote my essay relating my experience to theirs.  Then, unexpectedly, one day I received an e-mail stating that my paper won the contest out of four thousand papers.  Although I was not able to attend the lunch with Laila Lalami, I went to one of her seminars.  What was great is that she remembered my name and essay when I went up to introduce myself.

In the end I became more open-minded to diversity, which is the objective of the Life of the Mind Program.

Contact

Michael Modarelli
407F Andy Holt Tower
The University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996
(865) 974-9289

E-mail: mmodarel@tennessee.edu