The English Department of Long Beach City College held its joint Jacaranda and Donald Drury Awards on Thursday at the Liberal Arts Campus P Building.
For the Jacaranda Awards, each student had submitted their writing to a panel of judges that had selected a winner among the applications.
The award is named after the Jacaranda tree, which is most known around Long Beach as the purple flowers that cover the ground and parked cars in the suburbs.
“One of the most fulfilling aspects of being a professor is discovering a student’s voice in their writing,” said Allison Murray, Chair of Awards Committee, “and these awards give them the ability to submit their work for recognition and let them know we are being sincere with our praise.”
Murray also commented on the marker of success past winners of the Jacaranda Awards have achieved, saying one had been accepted to Columbia University and another was both waitlisted for Stanford and had earned a financial package to UC Berkeley.
“For those students, Jacaranda recognition played a major role in applying for those big schools,” Murray said.
During the Jacaranda Award ceremony, Murray introduced each student and their work, while presenting each with a red bound award.
After being introduced, each student was able to read a section of their work, or simply give a summary, with most giving an introduction or conclusion for their work.
The Jacaranda Awards had three separate sections to earn an award from: expository, persuasive, and literature.
The Jacaranda Expository Award was won by Teresa Conboy for the essay “How Musing on a Jazz Giant Can Help Unlock Our Stories,” with an honorable mention going to Aurelle Garner for the essay “No One Deserves to Live in the Closet Forever.”
Garner, whose essay told the personal story of being a parent to a transgender child, stressed the importance of support and acceptence with LGBTQ+ children.
“Some parents think it’s just a phase due to their children being too young, but if a child expresses affection, it’s very important to listen,” Garner said.
“It gave the chance to open the conversation,” Garner said, “and I’m proud it will give people the thoughts and support to learn.”
The Jacaranda Persuasive Award was won by Jessica Ferlazzo for the essay “Adoptive Children: The Invisible Student Population,” with honorable mentions going to both A.J. Mackewicz for the essay “How to Ease the California Water Crisis” and Catherine Shannon for the essay “Entertaining God in an Artificially Intelligent Heaven.”
The Jacaranda Literature Award was won by Beau Garcia for the essay “Rebellion Through Literature in Feudal Society,” with an honorable mention going to Charlotte Win for the essay “The Dream House at the Shoreline: Carmen Maria Machado through the Lens of Audre Lorde.”
“I think it helps people feel more confident,” said Garcia, winner of the literature award, “It really validates their work.”
The Donald Drury Awards, awarded for creative writing achievements in prose fiction or poetry, were held immediately after the Jacaranda Awards, being presented by Professor Jason Casem for the first award and Professor Jeffery Epley for the second.
The awards are named after Donald Drury, a former professor of LBCC who taught English from 1947-1982, along with writing “The First Fifty Years Long Beach City College” a book detailing the early history of the college from 1927-1977.
The winners of the Donald Drury award included Kameron Riley for the fiction piece “The Mixed Tapes” and Miki Kayama for the poetry pieces “Augury,” “Passage,” “Swollen Fruits,” “Ode to Shiso Juice,” “Return to Me” and “Tunes Over My Head.”
Drinks and snacks were also present at the event, with food including a fruit platter and drinks such as Arizona Tea, placed atop three tables covered with jacaranda-colored table cloths.