Name of Contest:  Stage of Life Monthly Student Writing Contest

Description:  StageofLife.com features a monthly writing contest for high school and college students dealing with real world issues.  Our short essay (500 words or less) writing contest has been featured on Forbes.com, CNBC.com, FoxBusiness and other media outlets.  Past contests have dealt with the Gulf Oil Spill, America’s relationship to food and the obesity epidemic, education improvement, stress management for teens, etc.  This student writing competition is a non-fiction, memoir, blogging, essay-style contest for teenagers in high school or young adults in college.
Awards:  Cash or Gift Card prize from a national merchant (value of $25 or more) is issued each month to the winning essayist, along with Stage of Life SWAG (T-Shirt, Pen).  StageofLife.com also sends out a PR Newswire press release about each contest, naming the winner.  Example:  http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mom-ranks-1-on-teens-hero-list-104940114.html.  This particular press release resulted in a feature story about the winner that’s being written for a metro newspaper paper in CT.

Entry Fee:  None

Deadline:  Monthly.  Essay for current contest topic is due the last day of each month by 12am PST.

Web Site URL: 
–Master site domain:  www.stageoflife.com 
–Contest url – High School:  http://www.stageoflife.com/StageHighSchool/OtherResources/WeeklyHighSchoolWritingContest.aspx
–Contest url – College:  http://www.stageoflife.com/StageCollege/OtherResources/CollegeWritingContest.aspx