The Garaventa Center for Catholic Intellectual Life at The University of Portland has announced this year's award recipients of the 2025-26 Garaventa Center High School Essay Contest.
Congratulations to Junior Sarah K., who was chosen out of hundreds of fine submissions as one of two top winners!
Sarah is the sixth Seton Catholic student in a row to have placed in the top five for this coveted essay contest in recent years, joining senior Bailey B., and alumni Parker Z. ‘24, Reid Whitmore ‘23, Bronwyn McGovern '22 and Caroline Thornbury ‘21.
This annual contest is open to juniors attending Catholic High School in Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, as well as all Holy Cross high schools in the U.S. Of all the exceptional submissions, only 5 students are recognized, two being named "top winners" and three honorable mentions.
This year's essay prompt was "The Blended Comfort and Rhythm of My Second Home." The essay prompt asked students to "describe an experience that uncovers the wonderful in something overlooked-an experience that turned your head, stirred your heart, or moved your heels." An interdisciplinary team of judges spent time carefully considering many excellent entries, and concurred that Sarah's essay conveyed her experience of being "wonder-smitten with reality" with creativity and eloquence.
It is important to recognize that many high schools use these strong examples of student writing in subsequent classes and coaching for Sarah's stellar work will live on beyond a single season.
You can read Sarah's essay titled, "The Blended Comfort and Rhythm of My Second Home," along with the other winning essays by visiting the Garaventa Center's page on the University of Portland's website when it’s posted this week, or by clicking on the below Google link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pTJ3q6-o__gcI-2GHDp1QElt19PjxtqhIr1qZ4tgAZA/edit?tab=t.0
Congratulations, Sarah! We are incredibly proud of you!