Essay contest puts gift cards in students’ hands

Jose Romero
senior editor

The April 30 deadline is approaching for TR Career Services’ essay contest.

Career Services is rewarding students with hundreds of dollars in TR bookstore gift cards for their college admission and internship application essays.

First place will receive a $300 TR bookstore gift card and will be published in the TCCD campuses’ department newsletter. Second place gets a $150 TR bookstore gift card and third place a $50 TR bookstore gift card.

Career Services provided students advice on essay format.

The contest’s website says to use the five-paragraph structure which includes an introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs and a conclusion. 

The introduction should have three to five sentences, the first sentence being the hook — a sentence that grabs the reader’s attention — and the last sentence being a thesis statement — the main point of the essay.

Supporting paragraphs include one introductory sentence, three to five sentences explaining the writer’s stance and a conclusion. The first body paragraph should be dedicated to the writer’s strongest point, the second should be the weakest point and the third should support another strong argument, Career Services said. 

The conclusion should restate the thesis and summarize each point in the body paragraphs. 

Essays must be submitted to trcareerservices@tccd.edu and winners will be announced May 28 at 11 a.m.