Twenty-three Students Will Receive Awards for Essays Related to Overpopulation
ALEXANDRIA, Va. , July 17, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Negative Population Growth leaders have announced this year's annual Essay Scholarship Contest winners. Soon, twenty-three students from across the U.S. will receive awards ranging from $5,000 to $1,500 to help with their tuition and other expenses.
This year, high school seniors and undergraduate students competed for the scholarship awards by writing an original 450-600 word essay addressing the provided prompt. Seniors and undergraduates were asked to imagine themselves 20 years in the future where the population in their area has doubled in size since 2024. They were asked to name three of the most serious problems your community faces because of this population growth. They were also asked what they as an individual can do to help protect their community in the future.
Graduate students were given the same prompt, but they were also asked to consider what local officials and community leaders can do today to prevent these problems in the future. Graduate essays were between 750 and 1,000 words.
The Donald W. Mann Memorial Scholarship for Population Studies, named in honor of NPG's late founder and president, has been awarded to Essence Roark, a graduate student from Yale University (Yale School of Public Health). She will receive the grand prize of $5,000 for her entry to NPG's Graduate Student Essay Scholarship Contest.
Theresa Mickendrow, NPG's longest-serving employee, worked with Don for nearly 31 years. She fondly remembers Don's commitment to education by stating: "Don fully understood that young people have incredible influence over our shared future. He knew that NPG must communicate with young adults while they are still determining their values and goals for the next 50 years of their lives and instill in them the belief that population size and growth play enormous roles in the health of our nation. By offering multiple scholarships, NPG encourages young people to examine U.S. demographic trends carefully and to make sustainable choices. Our goal has always been to change how Americans view population growth in the U.S. Young people are no exception to that goal."
Additional graduate winners include Alex Blake from the University of Nevada, who won $3,500 and Joy McFadden from the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado, who won $2,500. Eight $1,500 scholarships were awarded separately to Michelle Berg from the National University of Natural Medicine, Jessica Davis from Vanderbilt University, Tyler Kleinsasser from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Jill Koundakjian from The University of Kansas, Monica Monroe from Eastern Illinois University, Jennifer Powers from The University of Chicago, Zion Richardson from Emory University-Goizueta Business School and Sarah Slay from UNC Chapel Hill.
Undergraduate winners include Youssef El-Mankabady from UC Berkeley, who won the top undergraduate prize of $4,000. In addition to the top prize Jose Castro from Florida International University won $2,500 and Matthew Schneider from Berklee College of Music won $2,000. Nine $1,500 scholarships were awarded separately to: Jack Casey from The University of Arizona, Viera Fisher from Wright State University, Jace Hersey from Southwestern University, Jessica Nguyen from the University of Louisville, Lily Ogburn from Northwestern University, Christian Santos from California State University, Christopher Slack from Hartwick College, Zoe Thomas from the University of Vermont, and Brooklyn Wagner from California Baptist University.
This year's prizes are just a portion of the hundreds of thousands of dollars of scholarship money that NPG has awarded since 2006 as part of its Youth Outreach program. This multi-faceted program is designed to get America's young people focused on the disastrous future that awaits their generation if our nation's leaders fail to recognize and act on putting forth workable, responsible, common-sense solutions to today's ever-growing population crisis.
Along with sponsoring the annual student scholarship competition, NPG has worked through the years with thousands of teachers nationwide who help bring facts about population to America's classrooms. These efforts are funded through the generous support of NPG members who are especially interested in leaving a livable world to their children and grandchildren.
Since 1972, NPG has worked to educate both the public and policy leaders about the impacts of overpopulation. With a steadfast commitment to reducing population growth to achieve a sustainable balance with our environmental resources, NPG continues to be a leading voice of reason in a world often driven by the pursuit of perpetual growth. We do not simply identify the problems – we propose solutions. For more information, visit our website at NPG.org, follow us on Facebook @NegativePopulationGrowth or follow us on X @npg_org.
Media Contact
Craig Lewis, Negative Population Growth, 703-370-9510, [email protected], https://www.npg.org
SOURCE Negative Population Growth
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