Montrose Senior Adds Poetry to the Chemical Equation With American Chemical Society Win

Erica, who plans to pursue pre-med studies in college next year, credits chemistry teacher Mrs. Monica Baker for encouraging her to enter. A poetry enthusiast with a special interest in science, Erica’s background gave her a unique perspective on the contest. 

“I entered the poetry test after hearing about it from Mrs. Baker, and I was intrigued about the connection between science and poetry,” Erica said. “I enjoyed taking chemistry when I first took it in 10th grade, and I wanted to continue learning about the subject in my senior year at the AP level. It's a subject area that I hope to continue to explore in college. I've never been much of a poet; however, my AP Literature class recently held a ‘Bring Your Own Poem’ discussion. I brought in ‘A Poet is Not A Jukebox’ by Dudley Randall, and since then, I've looked further into Randall's poems as well as other pieces.”

Reading poetry is one thing; writing it is quite another. Since this was Erica’s first poetry competition, she had no expectation of coming out on top. The win was a pleasant reminder to always take opportunities as they come.

“I was very surprised when I saw that I'd won the contest,” Erica shared. “It was super cool to win, and I'm really glad I tried it out.”

Erica encourages others to follow her example and give this and similar contests a try - even if the contest is something new and out of one’s comfort zone. 

“My advice would be to just try it,’ she encouraged. “Enter whatever contests you're interested in because it never hurts to try. If you win, there's often a monetary prize and something to add to your college resume. If you don't win, then at least you know you tried.”