Writing Olympics Needs Your Help!

Yes. I'm going to ask you for money, a total of $1, 811.12 needs to be raised! Continue reading and learn why you should support this incredible event!

On April 6th, 21 volunteers came together to read the writings of over 480 essays written by Azerbaijani students throughout the country. Essays varied in depth and originality on topics which elicited laughter and sometimes tears (one in particular had yours truly crying).

Students who wrote essays were participating in the Writing Olympics, an English writing competition which encourages students to cultivate their creativity through essay writing. Prior to the writing event, Peace Corps volunteers held writing workshops and demonstrated useful ways to write creatively.

Students who clinched the first place title will then be eligible to compete on the international level with students from 8 other countries: Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Georgia,Moldova, Mongolia and Ukraine.

Writing Olympics was created in 2003 by a Peace Corps Volunteer serving in Georgia. The volunteer sought to give students an opportunity for creative self-expression and to practice their English skills, an ability rarely cultivated in post-Soviet classrooms.
According to Harvard Professor David Perkins, here are some reasons why creativity should be cultivated and are essential to the development of an individual:

1. A strong commitment to a personal aesthetic. Creators have a high tolerance for complexity, disorganization, and asymmetry. They enjoy the challenge of struggling through chaos and struggling toward a resolution and synthesis.

2. The ability to excel in finding problems. By asking the right question and finding the right problem, creators can define and "see" the boundaries of their fields that can be extended or broken. Being able to find a solution isn't the first step; the first step is being able to ask the question that focuses the vision and the potential that vision creates.

3. Mental mobility allows creative people to find new perspectives on and approaches to problems. Creative people have a strong tendency to think in opposites or contraries. They often think in metaphors and analogies and challenge assumptions as a matter of course.

4. A willingness to take risks and the ability to accept failure as part of the creative quest. These people also exhibit the ability to learn from their failures. By working at the edge of their competence, where the possibility of failure lurks, mental risk-takers are more likely to produce creative results.

5. Creative people not only scrutinize and judge their ideas or projects, they also seek criticism. Objectivity involves more than luck or talent; it means putting aside your ego, seeking advice from trusted colleagues, and testing your ideas.

6. The last trait is that of inner motivation. Creators are involved in an enterprise for its own sake, not for school grades or paychecks. Their catalysts are the enjoyment, satisfaction, and challenge of the work itself.

These young writers have taken one (in what I hope to be many!) steps to improve their creativity; a step that I, as a Peace Corps volunteer, want to continue enriching and encouraging.

They've written and now want to celebrate their accomplishment. We can't do it without your help! Currently, we're seeking to raise $1,811.12 (USD) to pay for student awards and an awards ceremony for the 1st-3rd place winners. Please take the time to make a contribution here.

Check out some of last year's winners at: www.writingolympics.org.