TIFTON—High school seniors and currently enrolled ABAC students will be eligible for $15,000 in scholarship money when they participate in the Young Writers Conference (YWC) on July 17 at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.
There is no charge to attend the conference which will be held via Zoom on July 17 from 9 a.m. until noon. High school students in grades 9-12 can participate in the YWC as well as current ABAC students. Only high school seniors and ABAC students will be eligible for the scholarship funds.
The YWC is sponsored by the ABAC Department of English and Communication. Dr. Wendy Harrison, who chairs that department, said the theme of this year’s conference is “Fantastic Stories and Where to Find Them.”
“This year’s Young Writers Conference will feature three workshops,” Harrison said. “One workshop will guide students to write a poem in the style of Walt Whitman’s ‘Song of Myself.’ Another will teach students to create a digital story, and a final one will focus on aspects of writing fiction, such as the source of ideas for fiction writing and character and plot development.”
High school students and ABAC students can register at the following address: https://www.emailmeform.com/builder/form/s9d0Ye6Qgfe1889l5er8Ik.
Dr. Michael Kirkland, ABAC Vice President for Enrollment Management, said $10,000 in scholarship funds is earmarked for rising high school seniors who are accepted and attend ABAC in the 2022 fall semester. Another $5,000 in scholarship funds is available for incoming ABAC freshmen who are enrolled for the 2021 fall term as well as current ABAC students.
“We wanted to offer the college’s support to high school students who are interested in writing and communication, as well as our existing students who exhibit excellence in these areas,” Kirkland said. “This is a way to recognize their accomplishments.”
Kirkland said scholarships will be awarded based on the work that attendees engage in at the conference as well as other ABAC requirements. Students will receive the scholarships when they become full-time ABAC students.
Along with the chance to earn scholarships to ABAC, attendees will have the opportunity to publish their work on the ABAC School of Arts and Sciences website. Workshops will be led by ABAC faculty, who are themselves accomplished writers of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction.
“Our faculty at ABAC are here because they are passionate about teaching, but this doesn’t mean they are not also gifted writers and scholars,” Harrison said. “They are good teachers because they are good practitioners of their craft.”
For more information, interested persons can contact Harrison at wharrison@abac.edu or call her at 229-391-4962.
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