I have an announcement to make concerning an essay I entered into the Rent.com New American Dream essay contest: I am in the top 25! Round one consisted of a “popularity contest” where you had to get your friends to vote for your essay. They had to sign up for the site in order to do so, so I’m sure I missed some votes just because of that. I was sure that I wouldn’t make it through just based on the “vote for me” criteria. But, out of 488 entries, I indeed made it past the first stage!

Now, I’m in the top 25 for a chance at $10,000, a Caribbean trip, or a Visa gift card. There are 7 prizes total, giving me a 28% chance of winning at least something. Yes, I totally did the math. This round will be judged by a panel of expert judges based on creativity, clarity, and such. And not to sound conceited in any form of the word, but I read some of the other entries and I’m not sure others took the “essay” part of the contest very seriously. I’ve got a good shot here!

My biggest hope is to win, not so much for the prizes involved (although I’ll probably faint with excitement and gladly take a trip to the ocean or mortgage lender’s office), but for the accolades winning would give me for my writing career. Sweet!

I’ll keep you posted.