Douglas Honors College student takes third place in regional essay contest

When Emmerson Miller submitted her piece “The Enduring Power of Dissent in Modern Democracy” to the William O. Douglas Essay Contest earlier this year, it was primarily because the prompt for the contest spoke to the thoughts she’d had on the subject for a while.

“It’s a subject I’ve had conversations about with my friends many times, so it was easy to just speak my mind,” the biomedicine and chemistry double-major said. “I had actually kind of forgotten that I submitted it until I heard that I had placed third.”

Miller heard about the contest through the CWU Douglas Honors College, which she joined during her sophomore year. When she learned about the prompt, which asked contestants to speak to the role of dissenting beliefs in modern society, she knew she had something to say on the subject, in spite of the fact that it had nothing to do with her majors.

“Right now, people are really big on this idea that you’re either one thing or another, completely missing the middle ground,” Miller said. “The importance of dissent is going against the things you’re supposed to agree with, and forming your own unique viewpoint.”

The CWU Douglas Honors College (DHC) served as a table sponsor at the August 23 William O. Douglas Award Banquet at the Yakima Valley Museum, where Miller was recognized for her efforts alongside the first- and second-place winners. While she thought she would feel like a fish out of water at the event, she soon came to realize she had more in common with her fellow honorees than she suspected.

“I thought I was going to feel out of place surrounded by all these people with deep interests in law and politics, but there was a surprising amount of people with interests similar to mine,” she said. “When people see an essay contest, they’re often limited by what they think they have permission to write about, but if you have an opinion on something, you don’t necessarily need to have your foot in the door to express it.”

As Miller enters the final year of her undergraduate studies this fall, she feels grateful for the experiences she has had through the DHC, and the other opportunities she has been presented with as a result of her participation in the program.

“It’s not just English and social studies majors; the DHC welcomes everybody,” she said. “I’ve met a lot of really close friends there, and they’ve helped me get into the McNair Scholars program, too, which just opens so many doors for you.”

Miller knows that the confidence she has gained in being recognized for her ability to express her views clearly in writing will be useful when she applies for medical school.

“A big part of the application for medical school is writing a personal statement about why you should be admitted,” she said. “Having this experience of putting myself out there and standing up for my viewpoint in writing is going to be a valuable experience for submitting that application.”