The 19th issue of Assayers will be compiled this summer and used next fall to teach Composition I students.
Dr. Doug Sonheim., Clarence and Bennie Sue Anthony professor of Bible and the humanities and chair of the English department, starts the process of making and publishing the book in May.
“The submissions to Assayers are judged by the English department faculty and separate until there is a stack of essays good for publishing,” Sonheim said. “There is normally around 50 essay submitted. Around 10-15 Essays are normally selected.”
There are 15 essays in Assayers 18, the most current edition in publication.
“Assayers includes student-written essays and preparation materials for the Composition I exit exams,” Sonheim said. “The essays are normally submitted by freshman students but submissions are accepted from any student.”
Assayers as a learning experience offers advantages to those who submit.
“A couple of reasons for Assayers being composed of student-written essays is to show students that writing an essay is a process and it takes time, it shows Composition I students that good writing by college students is possible, and reading a student-written essay speaks more to a student as opposed to reading literature written by professionals,” Sonheim said.
There are possible monetary benefits for submitting to Assayers.
“The first, second and third place winners of the essay competition receive prizes of $100 descending by $25 for each prize winner,” Sonheim said. “There is also always one student-submitted photography featured on the front cover of which the winner receives $50.”
Sophomore and Assayers 18 first prize winner Dielle Short was excited when she discovered she won.
“I was giddy,” Short said. “I was also fairly shocked. I have never won first prize for any writing competition in my life, and I never thought that my essay would land me first prize in Assayers. Frankly, I was surprised to be accepted in the magazine to begin with.”
Short won $100 and spent it on text books.
“I was almost exactly $100 short on my textbook money last fall, so the prize money was a timely and welcome surprise,” Short said.
Winning has also given Short confidence in her writing.
“Winning Assayers definitely gave me some much needed confidence in my abilities as a writer,” she said.
Short had mixed feelings knowing that her essay would be read and judged by Composition I students.
“It is a little weird,” she said. “I could not imagine that my essay would be used as a teaching tool when I wrote it. All in all though, I guess I am pretty proud. “
Beth Kohl, sophomore English major and second prize winner for Assayers 18, decided to be an English major after winning. “It was an exciting relief. I was unsure about my decision at the time to become an English major and was hoping to get at least one of my Composition I essays in Assayers. I figured if I could do that, I was headed in the right direction and would continue to pursue writing. Discovering that I had won second place was just a plus,” said Kohl.
Kohl compared, knowing Composition 1 students would be reading and judging her essay to a state of shock.
“Knowing every Comp. 1 student for two semesters was nerve-racking but thrilling in that riding-a-roller-coaster sort of way,” she said.
Kohl dreams of having more of her work published.
Essays for Assayers 19 can be submitted to Sonheim or any English faculty member. Sonheim’s office is located in Lile 204.
By Glenn Bolton, Signal Writer
