Let Grow Announces 2019 "Think for Yourself" College Scholarship Essay Contest

$8000 in Prizes

Last Year's Winners Published in USA Today, New York Post, and Appeared on National TV

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Jan 23, 2019, 08:12 ET

NEW YORK, Jan. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Too often, students on college campuses report they feel like they are "walking on eggshells," for fear of offending their fellow students, even accidentally.

Let Grow, a non-partisan non-profit dedicated to restoring resilience, wants students to think about what it means to be "protected" from speech, ideas, discomfort and disagreement.

Shaina Chen, one of the 2018 Let Grow Scholarship Winners, appeared on national television to discuss her essay, which was published in The New York Post.

Let Grow believes that the more that students get used to talking, debating, and opening their minds, the more they grow intellectually and personally.

Let Grow's 2019 "Think for Yourself" essay contest is offering $8,000 in college scholarships and is open to all high school students. The contest offers students interesting and unconventional essay prompts, including:

Write about a time you didn't speak up, or almost didn't, for fear your idea might be unpopular. What did you learn from this and would you do the same thing again?

Please write a thank you note to a jerk you listened to...and learned something from (though perhaps you didn't think so at the time).

Write about a time you could have taken offense at something someone said or did, but decided not to.

Write about a time when something you said was misinterpreted as cruel or awful: What happened? How did you resolve it?

Some people say young people should be shielded from controversial books, ideas or speakers, because these could be traumatizing or offensive. Do you agree? If not, why not? If yes, who would you let decide what you could be exposed to?

Let Grow is awarding one $5,000 scholarship and three runner-up $1,000 scholarships, payable to the college of the winning essayists' choice.

One of last year's "Think for Yourself" college scholarship winners, Shaina Chen, appeared on national TV to discuss her essay which addressed the prompt: "Can high school students deal with diversity...when it's diversity of opinions?" Chen's winning essay was also published by The New York Post. The winning essay of another student, Ruby Green, was published in USA Today.

Students can apply online at https://letgrow.org/tfyscholarship. Deadline is February 28, 2019.

About LET GROW:
Let Grow's founders include Daniel Shuchman, who recently stepped down as chairman the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education; New York University Professor Jonathan Haidt, author of "The Coddling of the American Mind"; Boston College Professor, Peter Gray, well known for his research on free play; and Lenore Skenazy, author of "Free-Range Kids," the book that started the anti-helicopter parenting movement and inspired state legislation for parents' (and childrens') rights.

Media Contact: [email protected] or Lenore Skenazy at (646) 734-8426.

SOURCE Let Grow