Safa Aw-Muhumed Wins 9th Annual Essay Contest

Safa Aw-Muhumed, a junior at Crawford High School, bested 250 other entrants in winning the 9^th Annual A Bridge for Kids Essay Contest.  This is the first time that a student from Crawford has won the contest and earned the $2,500 first place prize. 

This year students were asked “What is the one life experience that has best prepared you for your future? How did this experience impact you?”  Essays were submitted to A Bridge for Kids and scored by a panel of 25 judges.  Winners were picked based on the creativity, originality, clarity and overall impact of the essay. 

Finishing in second place was A Bridge for Kids sponsored student, Thang Ho, a classmate of Safa’s at Crawford High School.  It was a busy week for Thang as he also got accepted into his dream school, Harvard University, a few days prior to learning of his top finish in the contest.  We are guessing he will use some of his $1,000 prize to buy winter clothes! 

In third and fourth place respectively were Aisha Sharif Ali (Hoover High School) and Ramon Rodriguez (The Preuss School, UCSD).  Historically each would have won a $500 Amazon gift card, but because of a donation that was made during the contest, these students saw their prize double to $1,000.  A big thank you to our anonymous donor. 

Nadeen Youhanan, the first ever to crack the top-10 from El Cajon Valley High School, came in 5^th place.  A Bridge for Kids students Maria Aguire (The Preuss School, UCSD) and Inela Diaz (Steele Canyon High School) finished in 6^th and 7^th position.  Le Rah, the third Crawford entrant in the top ten, finished 8^th.  Our youngest contestant and one of only two sophomores to win a top prize was Lina Vo (Preuss) who came in 9^th.  Rounding out the top 10 was Khadiija Ismail (Crawford), putting an exclamation point on an amazing showing from Crawford with 4 of the top 10 finalists.  

As we excitedly look forward to our 10^th Annual Contest next year, we want to congratulate all of our winners, both past and present, graciously thank all of our judges who spent countless hours reading each of the essays, and send our appreciation to our most generous donors who help us make this event so special to those that participate each and every year.