Whether writing as a hobby, to test skills, or with career aspirations in mind, four Thomas County Central High School students composed their way to wordsmith recognition. The school has four system-level winners in the Young Georgia Authors competition: freshman Layla Staley, sophomore Shane Sanford, junior Sofia Jimenez and senior Norman Desourdy.

“The students who submitted a writing sample for this competition did so on their own accord,” TCCHS English teacher Kensey D’Souza, who submitted sophomore essays, said. “They took an opportunity to demonstrate their enthusiasm for writing. I am proud of each of them for going above and beyond.”

YGA fosters enthusiasm for and expertise in writing while giving students a platform to celebrate and recognize their writing successes. Any K-12 student enrolled in a Georgia public school may participate in the competition, sponsored by the Georgia Language Arts Supervisors and the Georgia RESA Network and supported by the Georgia Department of Education. There are no prompts or restrictions to their creativity beyond the word limit. Youth writers may choose from entering a short story, poetry, essay/literary criticism/analysis, journalism, academic/research report, personal narrative, or any other original writing.

“By participating in an essay contest like Young Georgia Authors, students are able to illustrate their writing talents,” D’Souza said. “They can see how their writing skills measure up to other students that are beyond the walls of their school.”

This idea came true for Shane Sanford, 16, who wrote about cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens, a current topic that interests him. Sanford chose to participate in YGA to measure his writing ability on a larger scale and found himself pleasantly surprised by the results.

“I’m happy to know my writing is better than I expected it to be,” Sanford said. “I’ve always had a negative mindset toward writing. However, this experience has inspired me to continue to submit my writings to other competitions.”

Sofia Jimenez, 17, had never participated in a voluntary writing competition before YGA, so it was a new experience whose result gave her positive encouragement and motivation.

”The Young Georgia Authors competition was a way for me to get my work out there and push myself to write,” she said. “To be honest, I was nervous to submit my work, but after winning, all that nervousness was gone, and now I am motivated to write and submit my other works to other writing competitions.”

Jimenez said TCCHS English teacher Jillian Mitchell, who entered junior and senior essays, encouraged her to write and participate in competitions like YGA.

“For a while, I became unmotivated and did not write anything for months,” she said. “However, Mrs. Mitchell's encouragement motivated me to pick back up writing and get over some insecurities I had about my work. Without her, I would not have been as motivated to write, and I would certainly have not won this competition.”

Freshman Layla Staley participated because she hoped to gain exposure and experience that might open new opportunities for her, including career ones.

“If my work gets recognized, it would mean a lot because, for the longest time, I never thought a career in writing would be right for me,” she said. “But if my work gets recognized as something worth sharing and something worth someone's time to read, then it opens a whole pathway for career options.”

Staley wrote about a fond childhood memory she thinks of constantly.

“Our hands can't touch the entire world, but our minds can,” Staley said. “Authors can create a whole world within the reader's head so that readers can feel like that dream world is within reach – or as far away as humanly possible in the case of horror stories.”

And speaking of creating new worlds, Norman Desourdy, 17, rewrote the introduction to his fantasy novel as his submission.

“Fantasy has always been one of my favorite genres,” he said. “My love of the genre and passion for writing put together prompted me to give writing a novel a try. This win reassured me that this novel is a project I am qualified to continue writing. Furthermore, I am confident in the merit of my introduction. Thus, I feel inspired to continue this project and potentially make writing a more prominent hobby of mine.”

Jimenez submitted a short story she wrote a few years ago yet continuously edits about a young family that moves into a neighborhood and discovers it’s not what it seems. She has thought of making writing, which she calls an outlet to process life creatively, possibly more than a hobby.

“I wanted to become an author, whether it be a creative writer or a nonfiction writer in the historical sphere, but I had doubts,” she said. “But after winning this competition, my doubts are significantly smaller. I have in no way decided on becoming an author for sure, but hopefully, this experience will lead me to a path in which I am able to share my writing with the world.”

The next step in the YGA competition is judging student essays at the RESA level. Winners from this phase advance to the state event.

“I think it is so powerful for students to take pride in Fine Arts and to find their voice as authors, beyond writing assignments for the classroom,” Mitchell said. “I am thankful Central always seeks to shine a light on academic accomplishments as much as athletic ones.”

And these youth scribes encourage others to pick up their writing utensil of choice and go for it.

“For those wanting to be writers, just continuously write whatever you feel inspired by,” Desourdy said. “The only way to improve is by practicing, after all. If you feel as if your current work is just filler until you get to writing your real work, everything you write is of substance and quality as long as it matters to you.”