Megan Vidovich displays her first Place Literary Award
Megan Vidovich, 11th grade Port of Los Angeles High School student, has won First Place in the prestigious Tomorrow Prize. The Tomorrow Prize is a science fiction writing contest open to all Los Angeles County high school students. POLAHS student Antonio Torres received an Honorable Mention.
Presented by the Light Bringer Project and Sci-Fest L.A, the competition inspires students to explore their present through speculating about the future and provides an opportunity for students to excel in the art of creativity and storytelling. A celebrity guest read Megan’s winning story aloud at LitFest Pasadena, May 19. Megan’s story is to be published in Parents Magazine and she will receive a $250 award plus free tuition for a college-level writing course.
Megan is the Junior Commissioner in POLAHS’ Student Council. She is also a clerk in the San Pedro delegation for the Youth and Government Model Legislature and Court Program, as well as former Presiding Commissioner of the National Issues Commission at the Youth and Government Spring Conference. Amid everything, she has a 4.4 GPA. After high school, Megan will attend a four year university and is interested in studying marine biology, journalism, conservation, and music. She hopes to pursue a career in her main passion, which is songwriting.
Megan was inspired to write a piece after she heard about Tomorrow Prize from her creative writing teacher, Mrs. Clark.
“In her class, I enjoy being able to branch out of my comfort zone and be experimental with my work,” Megan said. “The class gives me a chance to write scripts and stories that I would never have thought of writing outside of class. The story I submitted was based on feeling disconnected from society. I’m passionate about this topic because it’s something that many people experience and struggle with. I wanted to let the readers know that even if you don’t feel as if you belong now, you will find your place one day.”
Creative writing class teacher at POLAHS, Ms. Clark, said they are proud to unveil POLAHS’ 2019 Literary Journal- a student created, published, and promoted magazine under the direction of the creative writing class. Creative writing students contribute submissions as well as many students outside of the class who are also published. Journal pieces range from stories to poems to artwork.
The creative writing students take ownership of the process as they work in a professional writers’ group setting. They review and revise the guidelines for submissions, make fliers and posters to advertise for submissions and visit classrooms to read samples of their own work to encourage school wide involvement. As submissions came in, students discussed the format and structure of this year’s Journal. Next, they reviewed covers for the Lit Journal made by advanced graphic design students. Once it was pieced together, copies were printed, further reviewed by students, then finally it went to the print shop.
The Lit Journal was unveiled at Open Mic Afternoon where many students recognized that there are ideas for writing everywhere, and that their words have the power to touch others.