Among the 470 first-year students arriving at Kenyon College this August were a glassblower, a Navajo writer and artist, a figure skater, a steel drummer who performed at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, competitive downhill skiers and table-tennis players, and a surprising number of ukulele-players. With them came twenty-nine former participants in KR’s Young Writers Workshop. For years, the Young Writers program has offered talented high-school students a chance to experience college without pressure and an introduction to life at Kenyon.
One of those Young Writers enrolling at Kenyon last month was Sam Teeter, selected in June as one of 20 Presidential Scholars in the Arts from across the nation. Only five writers were selected for this prestigious scholarship program by the U.S. Department of Education. The short story that earned Sam this national honor was one that he wrote at the Kenyon Young Writers Workshop the summer after his sophomore year in high school. Young Writers can be a life-changing experience for talented high school students, and we’re always delighted to see Young Writers return to Kenyon to become part of the KR family.