The Immigrant Learning Center (ILC) creates different topics and prompts relating to immigration for its annual Teen Perspectives on Immigration essay contest. This year, March 4th at 6 PM marked the essay submission deadline.
People who were eligible to join this essay contest were grades 9-12 students from Malden, Everett, and Medford High School. However, what is eye-catching are the prizes after winning the contest as a whole: the first place winner receives $300, second place receives $200, third place receives $100, and honorable mentions receive $50 each.
When the ILC first started, their main goal was to “increase awareness of the benefits” and to “shift the narrative about immigration away from fear and mistrust to one of compassion and understanding,” expressed Ariana Moir, the Education Program Manager.
This contest commenced back in 2022, and the only school eligible to join at the time was Malden High School. Later, when the ILC started expanding, they let students from other schools like Medford and Everett High School share their experiences as immigrants in America.
This year’s topic is “The Cultural Impact of Immigrants on American Society.” This topic can range from personal experiences to family members’ experiences and anything else the teens can think of.
And, students can use these questions to guide their writing:
What cultures and traditions do immigrants bring to your school, community, and/or the United States?
How do these cultures and traditions make America a better place?
How do immigrants keep their traditions and share them with others while also learning American ways of life?
How does sharing immigrant cultures help make America special?
There are different ways to submit work, including essays that must have up to 1,000+ words, artwork, and videos. “We accept art and video submissions in addition to essays,” Moir stated.
Trini Le and Jason Juan are both sophomores at Malden High School who entered this contest. They both submitted original artwork that fits this year’s theme. “My piece focused on immigrants who work in the agriculture industry and wake up before dawn in order to provide for their families,” Le explained.
Juan emphasized that it is important to “show how the country is built on immigrants and thrives because of them. It can represent the deep connection between America’s identity and the diverse cultures that shape it.”
Both Le and Juan mention that to them, immigration means “searching for opportunity” and “seeking refuge and a better life for themselves and their families.”
During these years, they have posted magazines that feature different contestants discussing the year’s prompts. Last year, in 2024, the magazine posted 39 pieces on the topic of “What immigration means to me,” which shows life as an immigrant in America in many different and creative ways.
While scrolling through these different types of submissions, ranging from essays to artwork, one can see different experiences relating to immigration.
Anyone who applied before the deadline was notified of the people who placed on March 24th; the celebration is held on Thursday, April 17th from 6:00-8:00 PM at Arts Collaborative Medford.
“I would encourage people to join because it was a decently simple process and was honestly quite fun to do,” Le concluded.
