Northport High School tenth grader Addisen Nock has won first place in the Huntington Youth Writes contest for her essay “It’s Just Us.”  The memoir style piece of writing reflects her more than decade long friendship with fellow Northport High School student Lucia Saviano.
Addisen spent time making several revisions to the piece alongside her teacher Allison Coulson. She described how she felt strongly about the topic of friendship. “It’s essentially about how friendship will last no matter what,” she said. Addisen also shared that she was surprised at the recognition and that participating in the contest helped her realize that others could appreciate her writing.  
Mrs. Coulson said the piece was “so heartfelt” and “it was really poetic, and she worked really hard on it. She revised it multiple times and she really wanted to get it right, not only because of the competition but she really wanted to do service to that friendship.”
Mrs. Coulson spoke of the benefit of competitions such as these, saying “I think this can really help them build confidence and also feel like they are writing for a real audience.”
Congratulations to Addisen!