What do high school students think caring means? This was a question asked by the Unified Caring Association (UCA) to juniors and seniors across the country. The Unified Caring Association specializes in services and outreach that help individuals add more caring to their lives. One of the ways UCA does this is through sponsoring essay contests that ask questions related to sharing and caring in today’s modern world.
The recent Unified Caring Association essay contest for high school juniors and seniors was UCA’s first, and it asked respondents to discuss their experience with caring and how others can demonstrate more caring in their lives. $333 prizes were awarded to the top ten essay writers and an additional five were given honorable mention awards, which included a $100 prize. Finally, because of the success of the contest and quality of the essays, the Unified Caring Association announced that it would send a $50 thank you to every student who submitted an essay.
Some of the themes highlighted in the essays included the following:
- General interest and how that factors into caring
- Saying thanks to those who have cared for you
- How caring must become a daily act
- Collective caring
- Trust and caring
- Caring for the environment
The essay contest was part of UCA’s broader goal to help members lead a more caring life and have a positive impact on their loved ones, their local community, and the environment. UCA’s main mission is called C.A.R.E., and it involves helping those in need who can’t speak for themselves, including children, the elderly, animals, and the environment.
UCA Marketing and Communications Director, Christine Greenberg, said the following about the contest and ongoing outreach: “Throughout the contest, we have been tweeting youth quotes and we plan to continue to highlight these insights in order to inspire the UCA caring community.”
One thing we can all take solace is that the contest showed that there are many great young minds out there with very mature ideas about the importance of caring.