Gloversville's Stegeland wins AAUW literary prize

GLOVERSVILLE — The Amsterdam-Gloversville-Johnstown Branch of the American Association of University Women has named Allison Stegeland as the winner of the 2011 Dorothy Anderson Wemple Literary Award.

Stegeland is a 2011 graduate of Gloversville High School and salutatorian of her class. She plans to study English at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

The $300 award is given annually to an area high school senior in memory of Dorothy Anderson Wemple, who was an English teacher at Knox Junior High School in Johnstown and a member of AAUW. The winner is chosen based on the quality of a 500-word essay. In a news release, AAUW Award Chairwoman Rosemary Leo-Pappas congratulated Stegeland on her winning essay.

“How refreshing and encouraging it is to find a young person with enough love and respect for our language, our primary communication tool, to actually learn to use it,” Leo-Pappas said.

Stegeland has been a contributor to the GHS newspaper Paw Prints and to Teen Vox. The text of her winning essay follows:

My goal is to have a positive influence

By ALLISON STEGELAND

I’m a 17-year-old girl. In the fall, I will be heading off to college, where I will major in English. I’m a straight-A student who has always worked for her grades. I’m the one who always hands in her homework. I’m the one who can make anything into a Harry Potter reference. I’m the theater enthusiast who is in all of the community productions. I’m that girl with the peanut allergy. I’m the one who cares about the people around her. I’m the one who is never satisfied with her work until it’s just right. Right now, I’m fairly average. However, that does not mean that I’m insignificant.

Now let’s look 10 years into the future and see where I am. Twenty-seven years old, probably living with a roommate. I’m probably not wealthy. I will most likely have an average income and live in an average neighborhood. I’m probably working in some publishing company, or maybe writing my own works. On the surface, I’m nothing special. I?may not look like much, but I have the power to change the world.

There is one way to make a difference — by affecting others. You don’t have to be wealthy or have a genius IQ to influence the lives around you. People don’t even have to try to make a difference in a person’s life.

Everybody changes the world in some way or another. They donate a dollar toward relief in Japan. They vote for the president of the United States. They choose not to drive while intoxicated and save a life. These are things that we don’t even have to think about. I will make a difference in the world whether I try to or not. Despite this, I know that I will make an effort to make a difference.

I have been influenced by almost everybody who I’ve met. In turn, I want to have a positive influence on those who I encounter. I can start with simple things right now — complimenting somebody on their hairdo, smiling at strangers.

As I get older, I want to further my own influence. I plan on having a career dealing with the written word. The reason I am so passionate about this is because I have always been an avid reader. The books I have read have taught me numerous life lessons and inspired me to have adventures and write books of my own.

I know how powerful language can be. Someday, I will put out my own words, or help circulate the words of others. By doing this, I will be making a difference in other readers’ lives. I will inspire them and help them realize their own life goals.

I will change the world one person at a time. It may not sound like much, but as a person who has had her life shaped by language, I know how powerful that influence can be.

Area students are encouraged to submit their writing for publication in Teen Vox. For more information, email Teen Vox editor Bill Ackerbauer at teenvox@leaderherald.com.