Image Source: Smithsonian Open Access
Environmental Encounters
This year's theme invites you to explore your connection to our common home through personal experience and narrative. We often think of environmental issues in terms of scientific data, political debates, or global crises—but stories have the power to convey the deep emotional and human impact of these challenges in a way that statistics alone cannot.
Environmental storytelling is a tool for connecting people to the land, the water, the air, and each other. It can capture how a community is shaped by its natural surroundings, how environmental degradation affects livelihoods, or how future generations might experience a changing world. Whether you share a personal story, a tale of resilience from your community, or an imagined future, your essay should reflect the profound connection between people, animals, and the environment.
In this contest, you are encouraged to weave narratives that illuminate the urgent need for environmental justice. How do we, as individuals and communities, confront and address the inequalities that affect the planet and its inhabitants? How can storytelling inspire action and awareness? Your essay should engage with these questions, exploring how narratives—whether real or imagined—can shift perspectives, spark change, and challenge the status quo in the fight for a more just and sustainable world. We look forward to reading your stories and reflections, as they contribute to a larger dialogue about how we can create a more equitable and environmentally-conscious future.
Submissions will be compiled and archived by the First Year Experience, and student winners will be featured at the First Friday events that happen throughout the academic year. Submissions should be a maximum of 750 words, written in the language of your choice. Please submit your story by 5pm on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, to fye@regis.edu with the subject line “First Year Essay Contest Submission.” Please be sure to title your work and include your name in the document.
Below are some narrative and story prompts centered around environmental encounters that can inspire reflection, creativity, and awareness about the beauty and fragility of our common home. You do not have to use one of these prompts to be part of the contest!
1. The Forest's Call
2. The Last Drop
3. A River's Memory
4. The Displaced Wildlife
5. The Polluted Sky
6. A Message from the Ocean
7. The Forgotten Garden
8. The Burning Horizon
9. The Eco-Warrior's Dream
10. Voices in the Wind
11. The Last Tree
12. The Land Speaks
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