{"id":3206,"date":"2017-05-25T14:38:31","date_gmt":"2017-05-25T18:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/?p=3206"},"modified":"2020-06-23T14:44:27","modified_gmt":"2020-06-23T18:44:27","slug":"national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/","title":{"rendered":"National Essay Contest Winner Seeks Catholic College Centered on God"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Cardinal Newman Society is proud to announce that Jace Griffith of Idaho Falls High School in Idaho is the winner \u00a0of the Society\u2019s first annual Essay Scholarship Contest for Catholic college-bound students and will receive a $5,000 scholarship toward her education at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve decided I want God to be the center of my life,\u201d writes Griffith in her winning essay, titled \u201cFullness.\u201d \u201cIn the end, it only makes sense to choose a college that wants the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The contest was open to high school seniors in the United States who participated in the Newman Society\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/the-newman-guide\/recruit-me\/\">Recruit Me program<\/a>\u00a0and used\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/the-newman-guide\/\"><em>The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/my-future-my-faith-magazine\/\"><em>My Future, My Faith<\/em><\/a>\u00a0magazine in their college search. The winning scholarship must be used for education at one of the 29 Catholic colleges and higher education programs recommended in\u00a0<em>The Newman Guide<\/em>\u00a0for their strong fidelity and Catholic identity.<\/p>\n<p>With the innovative Recruit Me program, high school students can invite\u00a0<em>Newman Guide<\/em> colleges to compete for them and provide information about their programs. Rising high school seniors who wish to compete in next year\u2019s essay contest can sign up for Recruit Me online at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/the-newman-guide\/recruit-me\/\">https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/the-newman-guide\/recruit-me\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The topic for this year\u2019s contest was to reflect, in 500-700 words, on the following questions: \u201cIn general, why should someone choose a faithful Catholic college? And what do you, personally, hope to gain from a faithful Catholic education?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Essays were judged by how well they demonstrated appreciation for faithful Catholic education, as well as the quality of the writing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJace Griffith impressed us with her inspirational storytelling and her eagerness for the curriculum and community at a faithful Catholic college,\u201d said Kelly Salomon, editor of\u00a0<em>The Newman Guide<\/em>\u00a0and director of membership for The Cardinal Newman Society.<\/p>\n<p>Growing up in a community and schools with mostly non-Catholics, Griffith learned to explain and defend her Catholic faith, but she yearns for a Catholic college that forms \u201cethical and virtuous men and women with their eyes set on the great fullness that only God can give.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter all,\u201d Griffith continues in her essay, \u201cI\u2019ve spent enough time struggling to explain why I\u2019m skipping school for \u2018a good Friday\u2019 and fending off tissues from well-meaning classmates who noticed the ash smudge on my forehead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looks forward to a liberal arts curriculum, studying psychology in the \u201ccontext of human dignity\u201d and being surrounded by young adults with \u201csimilar goals and morals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cImpressed by the unique academics and enamored with communities full of the vibrant, persistent, delighted love of Christ, I trust that faithful Catholic colleges will continue to teach their students the fullness that is real truth and real joy,\u201d she writes.<\/p>\n<p>Griffith\u2019s entire essay can be\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/fullness\/\">read here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Her $5,000 scholarship is made possible thanks to the generosity of Joe and Ann Guiffre, supporters of the Newman Society and faithful Catholic education.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Guiffre for enabling this scholarship,\u201d said Cardinal Newman Society President Patrick Reilly. \u201cThey understand the unique value of a truly Catholic education, and they are thrilled to help a student experience all that a\u00a0<em>Newman Guide<\/em>-recommended college can provide.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Essays were submitted from students in 29 states. Most attend Catholic schools, but many others attend public schools or are homeschooled.<\/p>\n<p>All of the participants have applied to colleges recommended in\u00a0<em>The Newman Guide<\/em>, including colleges across the United States and as far away as the University of Navarra in Spain and Catholic Pacific College in Canada.<\/p>\n<p>Although only one student was named as the winner, many students submitted outstanding essays.<\/p>\n<p>The essay from Anthony Jones of Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, Va., reflects on Catholic colleges\u2019 commitment to truth. He quotes from\u00a0<em>Ex corde Ecclesiae<\/em>, the Vatican\u2019s constitution on Catholic higher education: \u201cA Catholic University is distinguished by its free search for the whole truth about nature, man and God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, many colleges that claim to be Catholic shy away from teachings they deem hard to accept,\u201d Jones writes. \u201cSuch disregard demonstrates a lack of both respect and understanding of God\u2019s word, inevitably resulting in an education that is seriously flawed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Adam Boyle from Mother of Divine Grace School in Ojai, Calif., writes in his essay that his \u201cdecision to attend a faithful Catholic college is essentially the same as Peter\u2019s response to Jesus: where else would I go?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFaithfully Catholic colleges provide this \u2018fixed definition of truth\u2019 for all of their students, and that creates a culture centered around Christ and His bride, the Church, which we know is the ultimate truth,\u201d Boyle writes, quoting from Archbishop Charles Chaput\u2019s\u00a0<em>Strangers in a Strange Land<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Julia Kloess, a homeschooled student from Mount Horeb, Wisc., described faithful Catholic colleges in the context of truth, beauty and goodness.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have not yet discerned where God wants me to go after college, but this education will serve me well no matter where God leads me for the rest of my life,\u201d Kloess writes. \u201cWhether I become a mother, enter the consecrated life, or start a career, I fully intend to seek the Truth, the Ultimate Good, and Beauty Itself, namely God.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Cardinal Newman Society is proud to announce that Jace Griffith of Idaho Falls High School in Idaho is the winner \u00a0of the Society\u2019s first annual Essay Scholarship Contest for Catholic college-bound students and will receive a $5,000 scholarship toward her education at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan. \u201cI\u2019ve decided [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3207,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[178],"issue":[393],"item_type":[37],"coauthors":[69],"class_list":["post-3206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-news","issue-essay-scholarship-contest","item_type-newman-guide-articles"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>National Essay Contest Winner Seeks Catholic College Centered on God - Cardinal Newman Society<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"National Essay Contest Winner Seeks Catholic College Centered on God - Cardinal Newman Society\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Cardinal Newman Society is proud to announce that Jace Griffith of Idaho Falls High School in Idaho is the winner \u00a0of the Society\u2019s first annual Essay Scholarship Contest for Catholic college-bound students and will receive a $5,000 scholarship toward her education at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan. \u201cI\u2019ve decided [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cardinal Newman Society\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-25T18:38:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-06-23T18:44:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Jace-Griffith-1030x690.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1030\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"690\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cardinal Newman Society Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cardinal Newman Society Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/\",\"name\":\"National Essay Contest Winner Seeks Catholic College Centered on God - Cardinal Newman Society\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Jace-Griffith-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-25T18:38:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-23T18:44:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e1342a460b6664ff1ae01c35c6abf572\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Jace-Griffith-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Jace-Griffith-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1714,\"caption\":\"Photo courtesy of Jace Griffith.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/home\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"National Essay Contest Winner Seeks Catholic College Centered on God\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/\",\"name\":\"Cardinal Newman Society\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e1342a460b6664ff1ae01c35c6abf572\",\"name\":\"Cardinal Newman Society Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/236822ac974dfc3b34993719f6c30309\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/newmansociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/CNS-Vertical-Logo-Blue_for-web-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/newmansociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/CNS-Vertical-Logo-Blue_for-web-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Cardinal Newman Society Staff\"},\"description\":\"Materials brought to you by The Cardinal Newman Society\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/author\/newman-society-staff\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"National Essay Contest Winner Seeks Catholic College Centered on God - Cardinal Newman Society","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"National Essay Contest Winner Seeks Catholic College Centered on God - Cardinal Newman Society","og_description":"The Cardinal Newman Society is proud to announce that Jace Griffith of Idaho Falls High School in Idaho is the winner \u00a0of the Society\u2019s first annual Essay Scholarship Contest for Catholic college-bound students and will receive a $5,000 scholarship toward her education at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan. \u201cI\u2019ve decided [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/","og_site_name":"Cardinal Newman Society","article_published_time":"2017-05-25T18:38:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-06-23T18:44:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1030,"height":690,"url":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Jace-Griffith-1030x690.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cardinal Newman Society Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cardinal Newman Society Staff","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/","url":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/","name":"National Essay Contest Winner Seeks Catholic College Centered on God - Cardinal Newman Society","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Jace-Griffith-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2017-05-25T18:38:31+00:00","dateModified":"2020-06-23T18:44:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e1342a460b6664ff1ae01c35c6abf572"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Jace-Griffith-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Jace-Griffith-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1714,"caption":"Photo courtesy of Jace Griffith."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/national-essay-contest-winner-seeks-catholic-college-centered-on-god\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"National Essay Contest Winner Seeks Catholic College Centered on God"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/","name":"Cardinal Newman Society","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e1342a460b6664ff1ae01c35c6abf572","name":"Cardinal Newman Society Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/236822ac974dfc3b34993719f6c30309","url":"http:\/\/newmansociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/CNS-Vertical-Logo-Blue_for-web-96x96.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/newmansociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/CNS-Vertical-Logo-Blue_for-web-96x96.png","caption":"Cardinal Newman Society Staff"},"description":"Materials brought to you by The Cardinal Newman Society","url":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/author\/newman-society-staff\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3206"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=3206"},{"taxonomy":"item_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/item_type?post=3206"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}