2 Dual Enrollment students win Piedmont Technical College writing contest

Two Dual Enrollment students won the Piedmont Technical College (PTC) English Department’s 10th annual writing contest.

Faith Kennedy was selected as the winner in the contest’s nonfiction essay category. 

Kennedy, who received a University Studies Certificate from PTC and graduated from Greenwood Christian School in May, wrote about the important lessons that she has learned from her grandfather in an essay entitled, “The Man with the Gray Cap.”

Addyson Buzhardt was chosen as the winner of the contest’s Writing about Literature category. 

Buzhardt, a rising senior at Saluda High School who takes classes at PTC through the Middle College program, wrote an essay entitled “Character Analysis of Louise Mallard.” Louise Mallard is the main character in “The Story of an Hour,” an 1894 short story written by Kate Chopin.

Kennedy and Buzhardt are among hundreds of students in the region who are getting a head start on college through Dual Enrollment, an advanced-credit program for high school juniors and seniors. Different classes are available online, at the student’s high school, or on a PTC campus. 

There are four ways to take part in Dual Enrollment at PTC:
•    Traditional Dual Enrollment courses are taken at the student’s high school with their high school instructors.
•    OnDECK classes are offered on a PTC campus and let students earn high school units and college credit at the same time.
•    PTC has partnered with some school districts on a Middle College that allows high school juniors and seniors the chance to earn 48-plus college credit hours.
•    Early admission is for students looking to earn credit through PTC, but not through their high school.

Dual Enrollment at PTC is designed to be affordable to all students. South Carolina residents can attend tuition-free at their high school, on campus or online.

Kennedy, who plans to major in political science at the University of South Carolina starting this fall, said she was shopping for her senior prom dress in Greenville when she was notified that her essay had been selected as the top entry in its category.

“It really shocked me when I found out,” she said.

Buzhardt said she was “thrilled and grateful” to win the literature essay category.

“The competition was full of amazing writers, and I did not know if I would be able to compete with them because I was only in high school,” she said.

Kennedy and Buzhardt each won $100 prizes for their work.

Click here to read Kennedy’s essay. Click here to read Buzhardt's essay.