<p>The Ashley essay was the best one. last_sundown, let us know if you win</p>
<p>Hi, all. I'm a newbie. I talked to some lady from Newsweek on the phone today, and she told me that the winners had already been selected and that letters were sent out about a month ago. I'm thinking, though, that she was a few trees short of a forest. </p>
<p>Am I the only one who notices how rude these people are, btw? I'm sure they get bombarded with questions about My Turn every year, but I work in customer service at my job, too. It's not that hard to act a little cheery, even if you're having a bad day.</p>
<p>last_sundown, I hope that regardless of the outcome, you'll post your essay. I'm anxious to read it.</p>
<p>hey i called earlier, and the man i spoke to said winners would be notified by July 1st (like someone else said earlier), but who know's what's correct. I wish they would give more specifics on their website</p>
<p>marema711, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks these people are -incredibly- rude about everything. I hope what she said isn't true, because Ellen Howard told me the winners are to be notified the first...I'm going to be really upset if I find out what the lady who talked to you said is right..</p>
<p>This whole thing is completely trashed, what a horrible organization...lol</p>
<h2>marema, here is my essay :) Please tell me what you think of it, I really love to hear what people have to say about my work - good or bad comments are always welcome.</h2>
<p>When was the last time you could say you were truly in love? Do you remember to whom was the last person you could look into the eyes and confess every secret? Romance is something written about only in books, they say; true love is nothing of reality. But the real question is -- do you believe it? Faith is what love truly is, nothing more and nothing less. Dreams of perfection keep one focused on individual desires long enough to find her soul mate. There are those who give up long before theyve found their match, settling for less than what could truly be. Then there are others, the fortunate few, who never give up hope, and eventually find the feeling of completion for which they have been searching. </p>
<p>Experience in pain is the only way to know, because without pain, who could feel love? When an individual stands out in a vast sea of open opportunity, you crave to know everything you can about him. He becomes your sole interest; he clouds your mind and prevents concentration on anything other. There is pain in the desire to feel the warmth of his embrace; it burns like Infernos fire, dying to escape and spread. That heat becomes unbearable soon, and you give into the temptation of a relationship. He treats you as a queen, says perfection is too dull a word to express how beautiful you truly are. He tells you there is no other in the universe quite like you, that you are the purpose for the very beat of his heart. You become obsessed with the flattery, overconfident with yourself, and you are now lost in every word he says. Anything for him, you say. Youd give your very life, if but to save his. He tells you likewise, but in time, you find his words untrue. He would save his own before yours, but you convince yourself that everything is still as it should be. After a half of one year, his excitement in seeing you has died down; he is bored. You try to get over the hurt in his words and attempt to make things more interesting for him. In your failing, he leaves you, but refusing to accept the end, you continue trying to win him back. A month after youve both said your goodbyes, youre back in his arms telling him you love him. He, of course, says nothing in return. Not seeming to care, you accept his coldness. As long as you have him, you will be fine. But in the time of a year and a half, you realize after endless nights of crying yourself to sleep, you are not fine. Your heart shatters after finally admitting to yourself that you were simply a trophy, a pretty girl to decorate his arm. You want to leave him, but at the same time you feel the need to stay. In the time youve spent with him, you have lost every friend you ever had. Everyone you had known for years hates who he is and who you have become because of him. He is all you have; you are dependant. You feel as if you will never be able to move on, so close to giving in. But, somehow, you manage to gain the strength you need in order to break away. You begin getting to know his friends, in an attempt to dissolve the loneliness inside of you. From the corner of your eye, you notice one of these people in particular one of them who makes your heart skip a beat the second his eyes meet yours.</p>
<p>The notion puzzles you at first. Its been a year since the last time you had that feeling. What does this mean? You lower your eyes from his gaze, noticing his blue sweatshirt, jeans, and bare feet. You smile at the sight then take a quick glance to your side. The ex-boyfriend sits to your right decked in black, make-up smeared on his face. Finding your attraction for him leaving you, you notice you no longer have a fascination for his ghastly appearance. The warmth of the other boy looks so inviting, you want nothing more than to cuddle up next to him and run a hand through his messy blond hair. The fire is returning; only this time, you have no idea if this boy has any interest in you at all. The next few weeks are dedicated to getting to know him better, befriending him, and trying to entrance him with your personality before your opportunity is missed. It is a success, and you find that his disposition matches his appearance. In actuality, you find that you even more like his thoughts and qualities than you thought you would. You are becoming close with him and distancing yourself from your old interest, He who had caused you pain. This new boy is making you happier than you ever imagined possible, and after spending just one day with him, you go to sleep for the first time in over a year without having to cry first. In a few short days, you and he confess mutual feelings and encounter a quickly accepted new relationship. After one year, you are still with this boy, and you are the happiest you have ever been in your seventeen years of life. You thank God every day that you didnt give up hope when you so easily could have. That second chance was all your heart needed to find your soul mate, the one you would spend the rest of your life with. </p>
<p>The moral, you finally realize, is that you must never lose that hope. Always know there is a chance for you, that you have a match somewhere out there. Your true love could be right in front of your eyes, try not to be so blinded by the pain that you cant see the light of Love that is meant for you.</p>
<p>bump .</p>
<p>My Chinese Female Family of Four is actually a great essay contrary to what u said, its so fun to read and its in its own great unique style it used many examples rather than just one big one to focus on the theme the love of her family...a good essay does not have to have big words or complicated stlyle that u cant even understand and read
"Why couldn't I have been named Ashley?" is also quiet original i think a good essay is one u can relate to being chinese... i could really relate to that winning essay...and having a weird name</p>
<p>To dreaming, </p>
<p>My Chinese Female Family of Four is a bad essay for the one reason you used in its defense..only you have it backwards. The only way you can actually relate to that story is if you were:</p>
<p>1) chinese.
2) female
3) have an all female family
4) have four people in your family
5) do you see where I'm going with this?</p>
<p>Whereas yes, the Ashley one -some- people can relate to because -some- people have strange names and it's interesting to hear about people with strange names...or something...I lost that train of thought..</p>
<p>but! Yeah, the Chinese one sucks. </p>
<p>:D</p>
<p>well i dont think the contest is necessarily designed to choose an essay that everyone, or even many people, can relate to. after all, it's called "my turn," and in the Chinese essay she gave a description of what her family is like. just because not ever reader can relate to it doesn't mean it's not a good essay.</p>
<p>plus you don't have to be chinese, female, etc etc to relate to an essay that has the basic overall message of an individual making the most of her situation without becoming distressed by what's not present in their lives. most of the essays are about some sort of "overcoming an obstacle" type situation, and what makes the essay unique and interesting is the way the basic message is presented</p>
<p>i thought the Chinese essay was pretty decent, though I did like the Ashley one better</p>
<p>last_sundown, I really enjoyed your essay! I thought it was something that a lot of us could relate to and understand, and the imagery was great. I most enjoyed the personification of Love and pain because I often write as if essences were living and separate entities. </p>
<p>In reply to some of the other posts, I also really enjoyed My Chinese Family of Four. Someone for whom I have a lot of respect once told me that in terms of writing well, it's not the story but the storyteller who makes the narrative memorable. While some of the other stories were very, very good, I thought Family of Four had the most accomplished writing style. Personally, I wasn't a big fan of the Ashley essay. Don't get me wrong, it was good -- the thing is, almost every name has some noble meaning: strength, courage, mine personally means 'queen.' It's a nice thought, but it's yet to establish a monarchy in my house.</p>
<p>Hm. Maybe it's better that I have slim chances of being picked. I could be throwing my essay to the likes of someone like myself. :-D</p>
<p>willyshakes, you make a good point. I like your way of telling me off better. lol</p>
<p>Heh, thank you very much for your kind comments. </p>
<p>I suppose I was a bit harsh on the chinese essay. It really isn't as bad as I make it out to be. I just don't understand why that one won over so many other great ones. I don't like it as much as the others..</p>
<p>Maybe it's because I'm secretly opposed to feminism of any sort XD I'm horrible at being a girl..I suppose that's my own personal thing though :P My boyfriend told me I need to work on learning how to accept my gender :D Heh, opps.</p>
<p>last-sundown...i dont know i guess it really depends on the judge...like in the chinese essay...some of the stuff no one would understand unless if he/she is chinese...like her grandma makes her friend putting on slippers...and the rice cooker put on warm...but if u get the allusion..u would just be like...aww...like who would notice little things like that....but overall its a really great style and intro is awesome so gets judge's attention really well after reading about what thousands of thousands essays...</p>
<p>I suppose you're right, in a sense. I mean..it is unique, it is kind of cute. But I still stick with my opinion on how I don't think it should have won the full out prize..that's my only tiff with it. I suppose to each his own though :)</p>
<p>I agree with last_sundown. That essay was not worth the $5000 that it recieved. There were better essays that should have won the grand prize.</p>
<p>hey heres my two cents---</p>
<p>i think the essays are probably judged just like actual magazine articles are accepted or rejected; it's not the best that takes the cake but the most appropriate for the publication. also we live in a very politically correct world, so topics that deal with race identity and the like are favored; wether this is fair or not is an entirely different issue. last sundown, i think your essay is very good and you can tell you worked long and hard on it, but if you arent rewarded for your efforts, just see it as a first lesson in the very harsh world of professional writing. good luck anyway</p>
<p>Lol, good input. And thanks. </p>
<p>I know it's a harsh world, hense why I'm not entering the most of it. I'd never write for a living simply because pleasing everyone is hard to do, and that's one thing that really depends on it :P</p>
<p>For the essay, I wish everyone the best of luck :)</p>
<p>so when would the notification be sent out?</p>
<p>The notification for the winners will be sent out July 1st, according to Ellen Howard..lol</p>
<p>i like the according to ellen ohward</p>