Cy Woods student wins essay contest

May 29, 2009 — Cypress Woods High School junior Cyrus Iqbal won the grand prize in the 2009 Coca-Cola Share The Dream essay contest.

Iqbal won the contest among a pool of 5,000 entries from the greater Houston and Dallas areas. Students were required to write 500-word essays responding to the theme “Change is inevitable. How will it impact you? More importantly, how will you impact change?” and submit them during the month of February.

Iqbal wrote about the transition of moving from New York to Texas and the struggles that came with adjusting to a new school and setting. He also addressed his hope to become a doctor like his mother and impact change by battling patients’ diseases.

For winning the grand prize, Iqbal received $2,500, a laptop and two domestic round-trip plane tickets during an awards ceremony in early May at Minute Maid Park.

“I think that imagery is what won the contest for him,” said Iqbal’s teacher Candace Tannous, the English Department chair. “With a limit of 500 words, Cyrus really had to wordsmith and make every word count. We’re thrilled for his success.”

Since the inception of the contest in 1998, Coca-Cola has awarded more than 320 students with more than $200,000, with the goal of inspiring creativity and reward students for excellence.