MARLBORO — High school students have an opportunity to win the 2013 Marlboro College Beautiful Minds Challenge by responding to the prompt: “Take a road less traveled. Make something that shares your journey.”
Marlboro College, a proud member of Colleges That Change Lives, and this year's top school in Princeton Review's “professors get high marks” category, will award cash prizes and scholarships for the best submissions.
Teens (15-19) from across the United States are invited to take a journey - physical, intellectual, or metaphorical - then document it, sharing what they've learned through a creative, digital submission.
Submissions are due Dec. 1. The top 25 contestants will win a trip, all expenses paid, to a student symposium at Marlboro College, April 2 through 5, 2014.
The top three entrants will also receive cash prizes: $1,000 (first prize), $750 (second prize), $500 (third prize). Cash prize winners and symposium attendees will be eligible for Marlboro College scholarships.
Of the experience, a 2012 challenge symposium attendee said, “The most important thing I learned is that people can be incredibly kind and wonderful and that it is so important to take advantage of any and all opportunities available.”
Ariel Brooks, director of non-degree programs at Marlboro, said in a program announcement, “Marlboro's self-designed curriculum ensures that every one of our students takes his or her own unique intellectual journey while at Marlboro.”
This year's challenge, she said, is inspired by Robert Frost, an early supporter of the college.
“We hope it gives high school students an opportunity to experience the same sort of transformative journey in a smaller way,” Brooks said.
Entries will be judged by a panel of Marlboro faculty, staff, and students. Winning entries will include a high-quality product that demonstrates effort and creativity, expression of original, critical, and innovative thinking, and substantial research and preparation.