Write and Submit your Essay: "What was the most difficult thing you overcame this school year?"

Essay Title:

When submitting your essay, title it as follows:

"I overcame ______"

[Please use the phrase I overcame in the title and then simply finish that sentence in a creative way to label your essay. Ex) I overcame the fear of leaving home for college. You can then write or cut and paste your essay into the main body of the submission form. Click the green button "Enter Contest" to begin.

NOTE: If you are a student living in Arkansas - click here for a special version of this contest being run in conjunction with KARK, the NBC network TV affiliate out of Little Rock.

Free Contest:

This is a FREE writing contest. StageofLife.com does NOT require a submission fee.

Contest Deadline:

May 31, 2011 at Midnight PST [StageofLife.com is an international project so the site clock is set to GMT but the contest ends on US Pacific Time].

Winner: The winner and semi-finalists will be announced here after June 15th, 2011. Winners and semi-finalists will be contacted via the email used to register for the site by a StageofLife.com staffer.

Prizes:

$25 gift card from Kodak Gallery, Stage of Life SWAG (T-Shirt, Pen, Letter from the CEO), national press release featuring your essay, and Featured Writer status on StageofLife.com.

Writing Contest Details/Background:

We all go through the fire. For teens and college students, the formative years of growing into adulthood often bring stresses and pressures from lots of angles...

Problems at home
Issues at school
Pressure from friends
Lack of confidence from within
Etc.

What we want to hear from you this month is your personal story in which you were faced with an obstacle, challenge, issue or problem (big or small) during the school year and how you then dealt with it.

Our hope is that your StageofLife.com essay will help other teens and college students gain some wisdom from your experiences so that they too can find comfort in the idea that others have overcome a similar situation.

Please help inspire others with your story - we can guarantee your experiences and words can make a positive difference with another person reading your blog entry on StageofLife.com.

Did You Know: Here are some helpful links to review. Feel free to explore these student resources before or after you've entered the writing contest...

Graduation Issues: GetSchooled.com
Family Issues: Teen Advice on Family Issues from About.com
Bullying Issues: This Has to Stop YouTube Intro from LearntobeHealthy.org
School Issues: ReachOut.com
Friend or Self-Esteem Issues: YourLifeYourVoice.org
Drug & Alcohol Issues: TeenZeen.org
Others? Are we missing crucial support sites? If you have suggestions - please send us a note and we'll get them posted. Contact Us

Format:

This teen and college student writing contest should be in the form of a personal, essay, letter, diary, blog, or memoir format. The Stage of Life editors, staff, and featured writer/blogger community is excited to read your original point of view to this month's writing contest.

Optional: In your essay, mention the state in which you live, ex. Minnesota or Pennsylvania. StageofLife.com student essay writers have been featured in local, regional and national media channels. See an example in which TIME.com featured one of our teen writers.

Post Comments:

We'd like to encourage all participants and readers to make comments on these writing contest essays. Please just remember to keep all comments/posts/discussions civil and in good taste in each of the essay-blog threads.

Last Words:

Our hope is that your essay and thoughts will positively impact teens during prom season, and maybe even inspire someone.

Good luck!