Column, Serious

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1st- Lance Klemple (Muskegon Community College)

Judge comments:

A warm, thoughtful attempt at welcoming people resistant to transgender-identifying individuals, and others associated with identities considered nontraditional by so many people. Lance’s words and writing voice grab the reader from the opening paragraph, letting them know clearly the intention of the piece with “My name is Lance Klemple, and I am a transgender man.” His words provide vivid imagery and his reference of others’ words offer context that help the reader down a path of discovery; a discovery of the columnist’s identity, and how he traversed that same path.

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2nd- Anthony Clark Jr. (Grand Rapids Community College)

Judge comments:

Anthony does an excellent job putting the reader in his shoes; an important accomplishment in a story about what it's like to be in his "nontraditional" shoes. Great visuals created by words. The message itself is inspiring, albeit for an audience that may never read this column -- older generations on the fence about returning to college.

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 3rd-Angelina John (Grand Rapids Community College)

Judge comments:

Angelina's words are heartfelt, expressing the challenges of adjusting to the pandemic and the pain of losing avenues of communication with her mother. It's a story others will identify with in some shape or form.

Honorable Mention- Matthew Kern

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Honorable Mention - Matthew Kern (Schoolcraft College)

Judge comments:

The columnist does a great job helping his readers along a journey, offering them the destination up
front and following that reveal with a colorful and insightful tour of the events that led to that.

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Honorable Mention - Kathryn DePauw (Northwestern Michigan College)

Judge comments:

An insightful, touching look back at an experience tied to such a divisive subject: vaccines. The
columnist attempts to punch through the skepticism undoubtedly carried by some readers by relating to elements of that skepticism. The column’s approach seemed to attempt to meet people where they were at; whether the reader was an avid vaccine advocate or buried deep in conspiracy theories. Likely, the latter did not make it beyond the headline, but if they did, they might have felt the column’s warmth.