The 2015 English Speaking Union’s Nunn-Russo Creative Writing Competition asks students…

In the United States, some of our customs are so much a part of our lives that we don’t even recognize them as unique. Is there one custom that you think exemplifies life in the US? How would you explain it to someone from another country — or planet?

First Prize: $300

Second Prize: $200

Third Prize: $100

And here is Sophomore Gaven Li chasing the dollars…

Football — Made in the USA

Although this is only my fifth month in the United States, I still want to talk about American football — one of the best sports in the world.

As a Chinese, I got confused every time when people in America call football “soccer” and use “football” to represent another sport, which seemed a rough and violent sport to me at that time. So when the football coach asked me if I wanted to play football on my second day at school, I considered how terrible football is and hesitated for a while. I knew nothing about football; I’m not strong, and I did not want to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I still remember the first day I watched the football practice. That was a hitting practice. I saw them run into and hit each other. I opened my mouth so big that I couldn’t even close it. “Oh my God.” was the only thing in my mind at that time. It scared me, but made me excited too. I told the coach: “Yes” then everything changed.

Football is not popular in China at all, but here, in the United States, most of the people are crazy about it. After I joined the football team, I started to understand why and quickly fell in love with this amazing sport. There’s no such sport like football, full of skills, power, teamwork, toughness, and passion. When I told my parents in China that I play football, they were so mad and worried about my safety. I think that’s the reaction of every parent if they know their children play American football. A lot of people might say football is dangerous, rough, it stops every ten seconds. There are too many commercials, but all these make football so exciting and special.

However, football is not only a sport but also part of American culture. People in other countries will never understand how much Americans love football: you can hear someone talking about the playoffs in the subway; you can feel the passion everywhere in the whole nation when the Super Bowl is coming. You think people only love professional football games? No! Pro games, college football or even high school football have millions of players and fans. Football is everywhere, not only on the field, also in people’s lives.

When you talk about soccer or basketball, they are everywhere. But football? Only in America. I believe this unique sport, which is made in the USA, played in the USA, will keep gaining its popularity all over the world.

In American Literature class, PVS students read Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing,” then they wrote their own response. Students considered what they hear singing. 

Here is Whitman’s original version:

I HEAR AMERICA SINGING

                                                        Walt Whitman, 1819~1892

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe
     and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off
     work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the
     deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing
     as he stands,
The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the
     morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at
     work, or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young
     fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

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Here is Senior Jackie Sutton’s response:

Year after year, ambitous college-bound high-school seniors tackle the infamous University of Chicago application essay questions. Here’s Ben Cho‘s answer to U Chicago’s question…

What is so odd about odd numbers?

Odd can mean strange or indivisible by two.
Intuitively, I always thought odd numbers are odd. Imagine you are sitting around the campfire enjoying s’mores and find out there is an odd number of crackers! You could throw the odd cracker away, but the oddness remains in the emptiness of your mouth. You could split the odd cracker into two, but the oddness still remains in the small, uneven size of the last s’more.
However, wondering why the word odd has two seemingly unrelated definitions, I consulted with the etymology dictionary. According to the dictionary, “odd” came from the Indo-European root “Uzdho”, meaning pointing upwards. Later, the Old Norse modified this root into a new word “oddi”, which was initially used to refer to a triangle. Like a point of land or angle, oddi was recognized to have two paired angles and a third anglethat stood alone. Overtime, the Old Norse used “oddi” to refer to something unpaired, as in “odda martha”, the one who gives a casting vote. The Middle English adopted oddi’s definition of “something unpaired” as “odd”. In 1580s English, the notion of “the odd man out” gave rise to the modern meaning “strange”.
As a math enthusiast, I contemplated on whether odd numbers are actually odd.
How many times even numbers are added together does not affect the parity of the outcome. Even numbers are consistently themselves no matter how many times they meet other even numbers. However, how many times odd numbers are added together does affect the parity of the outcome. Odd numbers added an odd number of times equals an odd number. Odd numbers added an even number of times equals an even number. Odd numbers are capricious; the parity changes every time they meet another odd number.
The sum of consecutive odd numbers starting from one equals a perfect square. The phrase “square pegs in a round hole” seems to coincide with, even effectively illustrate, this property. Like the square pegs, the community of all odd numbers is so perfectly square that it hardly fits anywhere else.
Metaphysically, I concluded. As can be seen in both nature and philosophy, the world is full of symmetry: the exterior of many organisms, the shape of earth, and the concept of good and bad. This symmetry adds to the oddness of odd numbers, which cannot be evenly divided into two groups. In the community of odd numbers, there are always winners and losers: no ties, no peace. Odd numbers are very black and white. One way to bring harmony is to place some members of the community on the symmetry line or take them out of the community. Doing so may not bring true harmony, as it is to make an odd group of rulers or misfits. Another is to give up being an odd community and combine with another odd community to become even. In other words, there is no way for an odd community to maintain peace and identity simultaneously. If odd numbers are not odd, then what else can they be?

–Ben Cho

I Am

I am awesome Hugh
I wonder why I am so handsome
I hear people whispering about me
I see girls peek at me
I want to know why I am so popular
I am awesome Hugh
I pretend to be a star when I grow up
I feel I would be someone like Nicolas Cage
I touch the Academy Award
I worry I do not have enough room for awards
I cry because no one is as good as me
I am awesome Hugh
I understand excellent people are always lonely
I say I need to change myself
I dream of being normal
I try to be normal
I hope to be normal
I am awesome Hugh
It is too hard to be normal
–Hugh Hu

What do men want?

I want a white shirt.
I want it clean and fit.
I want it very dazzling; I want to keep it
Until somebody makes it tear.
I want it tight and straight
This shirt, . . . .
What’s in the sky? I want to walk up it.
Walk the road past open and vast, past the school crowded and full of vigor,
Past Mr. And Mrs. Sam jogging on the road, past their big house.
I want to walk with everybody on the earth; I’m the No.1 guy in this world.
And I want that white shirt perfect.
I want it shining.
You best be loyal about me
To show me how much you care about me
Or anything like that.
When I want it, I’ll pull my white shirt and my suit
from their case like I’m choosing a friend to go with me into this world, through the blood and sweat too,
And I ‘ll wear that white shirt like a performance, like a show.
It’ll be the wonderful cloth.
Dress me, and fly me up.
–Michael Ma

What do women want?

I want to understand men,
but I know that is impossible.
I want to live every day
like it would be my last day in my life.
I want to come somewhere,
where everybody says: Je-sus, she looks beautiful.
I want to just sit with you and listen to your stories.
I want a freedom and understanding.
I want to improve someone’s day,
just smile and be nice, you know.
I want to look at you and know that you are
the only one on this planet and you’ll never
disappoint me. I need you to support me,
love me and never leave me.
I want to be sure that if I fall down one day,
you will be there to pick me up.
I want to live, love and enjoy this wonderful
world.
–Anna Kleckerova

What does he really want?

You think he wants the fancy suit or that nice pair of jeans
You think he wishes he had that hot new red sports car
You think he will be happy with a ton of cash or that overpriced steak
You think he’ll accept that nice warm home-cooked meal and a good night sleep without the early morning
But what you don’t know is he is happy . . .
With the early morning, the kiss goodbye,
and the warm hug when he comes home . . . .
–Kyler Deshpande