Xena Pulliam's work now published on MTVAct blog
Tech
Valley High School senior Xena Pulliam has won a national award for
her writing.
The senior from the Berne-Knox-Westerlo Central School District is the recipient of an iPad from MTV and had her essay on intolerance, titled "I Said Yes," published on MTV's blog, MTVAct.
Pulliam wrote a piece on a girl being ostracized by her former friends and classmates because of a bad act her boyfriend committed. Her essay can be read here.
Her essay was chosen out of thousands submitted to a 9/11 remembrance contest that focused on intolerance. A celebrity panel that included including Grammy-nominated artist Kenna and leading young adult authors Maureen Johnson and Melissa de la Cruz chose Pulliam and two others as the winners from a top-ten list of essays that was selected by MTV fans.
"I never would have thought that I could write something that would win a contest, let alone be published on MTV's website. I'm really excited to have received that level of recognition for my writing," said Pulliam. She noted that she is now entering another national contest for writing through Seventeen Magazine.
Pulliam said the inspiration for her award-winning essay came "from a bunch of different places. I love using twist endings in my stories that people never see coming and I knew that with all the teenage pregnancies that exist I wanted to do a piece on the intolerance that comes with being pregnant in high school — while still making the ending a surprise."
"I don't know a girl like (her character) Savannah personally, but I
know there are girls like there out there who have stories to be
told," she added.
