Scull Season

The Fay English Department hosts two competitions every year; the first, occurring around January, is the speech competition, a contest in which every Fay student writes and delivers a speech about a topic of their choice. This year, the competition was won by Nilufer ‘17, who spoke in front of the entire student body about women’s rights.

Aside from speeches, the other annual contest that is hosted is the Scull essay competition, a more emotional and private competition (if that can be said) in which all students write an essay regarding a personal topic of their choice. As we head into late April, students of all grade levels are starting to piece together ideas and construct personal essays based off of past experience. There are close to no restrictions on the essay, allowing all writers the chance to truly express their views in a piece of writing. Like the speech competition, the Scull contest progresses in rounds, until a board of faculty judges read and select a winner from the pool of anonymous finalists.

Personally, I believe that the Scull essay competition gives a good space for students across the board to express themselves and deliver messages that would otherwise be left unsaid. Many of my friends regard this competition quite highly, and take this as a chance to write visceral pieces, often on highly contemplative topics. Last year, I wrote my essay about the fragmentation of identity, and in the process of constructing my essay, I felt as though I had grown significantly, both as a student, as well as an adolescent.

“I think the Scull essay is a great way to let loose and write whatever the heck you want,” says Maddie ‘17. “I end up spending my weekend nights in a sleep-like trance typing out my essay, because I can let my mind wander without being social about it.”

As we move into the last few months of this school year, I, along with many of my friends, highly anticipate completing our essays, as in my opinion, it is definitely the assignment that requires the most thought, energy, and dedication to produce.

Derek '17