If Stylus represents the best of the University of Central Florida’s First-Year Writing Program, the John C. Hitt Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing is for the best of the best. Awarded annually, the Hitt Prize recognizes the talent and hard work of one student published in the journal that year. The Hitt Prize is a prestigious honor recognized by UCF faculty and administration as well as the larger academic community.
The Hitt Prize is named for UCF President John C. Hitt, whose commitment to undergraduate success has included using tuition differential money to lower class size in composition courses, hire six additional full-time faculty to teach composition, and fully fund the University Writing Center.
Past Winners
2021
The Winner of the 2021 John C. Hitt Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing is Eli Fuchs for his work, “Jewish Leadership, Language Choices, and Community Sustainability.”
The 1st Runner-Up is Haillē Turner, with her work, “Shifting Genre Conventions in Counseling Case Documentation and Defensive Practices Due to COVID-19.”
The 2nd Runner-Up is William DiSalvo, with his work, “Black Language, Black Rhetoric, and Multimodal Storytelling in J. Cole’s Music.”
2020
The Winner of the 2020 John C. Hitt Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing is HP for his work, “Carrying the Weight of a Nation: The Story of a Guatemalan Boy.”
The 1st Runners-Up are Zounaira Shahzad, with her work, “Rise and Shine: A Violation of Kairos,” and Elizabeth King, for her work “An Analysis of the Different Starbucks Menu Formats and Evaluating Their Accessibility.”
The 2nd Runner-Up is Alexandra Claure, with her work, “Rhetorical Nuances in the World of Cosplay.”
2019
The Winners of the 2019 John C. Hitt Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing are Natali Barakat, for her work “‘With Love, For Love, Through Love’: A Literacy Confession of a Middle Eastern Writer”, and Alexus Forshee, for her work “A Genre Analysis of Patient Notes and Documentation Practices in the ICU.”
The Runner-Up is Savannah Dugger, with her work “The Personal and Professional Process of Writing a Technical Instructions Manual.”
2018
The Winner of the 2018 John C. Hitt Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing is Chad Jones, with his article, “The Becoming of an Outsider: A Story of How the Molded Clay Was Shaped.”
The 1st Runner-Up is Ryan Johnson, with his article, “LGBT+ Media: What Went Wrong.”
The 2nd Runner-Up is Julie Wan, with her articles, “Chinks In My Armor: Reclaiming One’s Voice” and “You’re Filtering Me Out: Reviewing Snapchat Lenses through a Rhetorical Lens.”
2017
The Winner of the 2017 John C. Hitt Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing is Priscilla Samayoa, with her article, “The Extent of Influence that Genre Conventions Have on TED Talks.”
The 1st Runner-Up is Katy Gentry, with her article, “Changing Scenes: The Rise and Success of Diversity on Broadway.”
The 2nd Runner-Up is Arielle Feldman, with her article, “Galaxy-Wide Writing Strategies Used by Official Star Wars Bloggers.”
2016
The Winners of the 2016 John C. Hitt Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing are James Buddendorff, with his article, “Analysis of an Online Activity System” and Taylor Rayfield, with his article, “The Desktop Doctor: Medical Rhetoric in the Emergent Online Context.”
The 1st Runner-Up is Cameron McAllan, with his article, “Diagrams as an Instructional and Communicative Medium for Engineering Students.”
The 2nd Runner-Up is Amber Steward, with her article, “Learning to Loosen the Ties.”
2015
The Winner of the 2015 John C. Hitt Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing is Jacob Vogelbacher, with his article, “Evolution of Cyber UCF: The Development of an Academic Institution’s Website Through Time.”
The 1st Runner-Up is Daniel Truesdell, with his article, “Constructing Identity in Academic Writing: A Case Study on Rhetorical Awareness in Engineering Discourse.”
The 2nd Runner-Up is Madeline Halvey, with her article, “Simple Forms of Dance and Movement Literacy.”
2014
The Winner of the 2014 John C. Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing is Daniel Huang, with his article, “Genre Analysis of Moves in Medical Research Articles.”
The 1st Runner-Up is Christina Coffee, with her article, “Persuasive Marketing: An Investigation of the Persuasive Effectiveness of Differing Media to Attract Individuals to Advertised Events at the University of Central Florida.”
Tied for 2nd Runner-Up are Komysha Hassan, with her article, “Digital Literacy and the Making of Meaning: How Format Affects Interpretation in the University of Central Florida Libraries Search Interface,” and James Plyler, with his article, “Video Games and the Hero’s Journey.”
2013
The Winner of the 2013 John C. Hitt Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing is Alcir Santos Neto, with his paper, “Tug of War: The Writing Process of a Bilingual Writer and His Struggles.”
The 2nd Runner-Up is Julia Nguyen, , with her paper, “Canines and Their Companions: Unleashing the Chains of Sponsorship.”
Honorable Mention goes to Lucas Pasqualin, with his paper, “Don’t Panic: A Hitchhiker’s Guide to My Literacy.”
2012
The Winner of the 2012 John C. Hitt Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing is Lindsay Schmit, with her paper titled “Personality and its Effects on Facebook and Self-Disclosure.”
The 1st Runner-Up is Marissa Penzato, with her paper titled “Fanfiction, Poetry, Blogs, and Journals: A Case Study of the Connection between Extracurricular and Academic Writings.”
The 2nd Runner-Up is Victoria Marro, with her paper titled “The Genres of Chi Omega: An Activity Analysis.”
2011
The Winner of the 2011 John C. Hitt Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing is Steve Liu, with his paper titled “The Most Popular Thing You’ve Probably Never Heard of.”
The 1st Runner-Up is Thomas Osborne, with his paper titled “Late Nights, Last Rites, and the Rain-Slick Road to Self-Destruction.”
The 2nd Runner-Up is Alissa Warren, with her paper titled “Tuesday Night is HamBingo Night: a Glimpse of the Drag Queen Culture.”
2010
The Winner of the 2010 John C. Hitt Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing is Tyler Obarski, with his paper titled “The Complexity of Language at Publix Supermarket Store #0258.”
The 1st Runner-Up is Lauren Perry, with her paper titled “Writing with Four Senses: A Hearing Impaired Person’s Writing.”
The 2nd Runner-Up is Nicolas Oscheneek, with his paper titled “Fixing Our Future”