March 11, 2011
For Immediate Release

University Marketing & Communications: Mike Rigert (801) 863-6807
Written by: Karissa Neely (801) 863-6351

Shelby Jorgensen of Pleasant Grove never thought she’d win the high school essay competition, a new event added this year to the International Women of the Mountains Conference held at Utah Valley University March 8- 9. But she did, and took home $500 for her efforts.

Representing six schools across the Wasatch Front, 54 students submitted essays on the topics of women and children’s health, education, family and gender issues, human trafficking and exploitation and women as leaders.

Twelve finalists presented their essays in a workshop at the Orem Public Library March 7.  Shelby, a junior at the Utah County Academy of Sciences (UCAS), won first prize for her essay “Women’s Education in Mountainous Regions.”

Some essays dealt with human trafficking throughout the world, a subject also addressed at conference this week. The students discussed how young women are recruited from rural areas, and then transported to foreign countries, where they are at the mercy of the traffickers. Other essays, like Shelby’s winning work, described how education truly is the answer for women in these rural and developing areas — how much their lives improve through education, and the empowerment they have to then change their home situation.

To illustrate her findings, Shelby divided the Orem Public Library audience into segments, according to research on the living conditions of people in Third World countries. Based on those categories, she illustrated the life of each audience member. Shelby then described how nearly a billion people are not able to read or sign their name, and that two-thirds of them are women. Most of these women have little hope of access to education because of their culture, or the treacherous rural areas they reside in.

The essays were judged by Keith Snedegar, a UVU history professor, and Connie Lamb, BYU social sciences librarian, on the students’ writing quality, their use of source material and their oral PowerPoint presentations.

“We chose the papers that best addressed the theme of the conference,” said Snedegar. “Shelby did just an outstanding job.”

Shelby is considering pursuing a career in engineering because she’d like to help people around the world by using engineering solutions. But for now, she is happy at UCAS, an early college high school that is located on UVU’s Orem Campus. Many UCAS students, including Shelby, participate in a concurrent enrollment program by simultaneously taking courses at UVU with the goal of graduating from high school with an associate’s degree.

“The teachers, they teach you so much, and I love going to college and getting a head start on my education,” Shelby Jorgensen said.

It’s a bit of a commute to UVU every day from her home in Pleasant Grove, but one she’s willing to make. And her winnings will help her education.

“Most of the money will go to gas to get me to UCAS every day, honestly,” Shelby said with a laugh.

Katie Pontsler from Copper Hills High, took second place, and Ivan Delgadillo, also from UCAS, took third. Andrew Wensler, Kaitlyn-Nicole Burtenshaw, Linsey Wilkey, Desirae Cruse and Alexandra Westbrooks also garnered awards.

Zoran Jolevski, the ambassador of Macedonia to the United States, and Gyan Chandra Acharya, permanent representative of Nepal to the United Nations, agreed, and congratulated the finalists on their work.

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About UVU

Utah Valley University is located in Orem, Utah, and is home to nearly 33,000 students. UVU began as a vocational school during World War II, and in the seven decades since has evolved into a technical school, community college, state college and, finally, a comprehensive regional teaching university. UVU is one of Utah’s largest institutions of higher learning and offers programs ranging from career training to high-demand master degrees, with emphasis on undergraduate education.